


And The Livin's Easy

by dollalpaca



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beach, F/F, Surfer AU, The Author Has No Knowledge About Surf Whatsoever, sorry surfers for butchering your sport in the name of lesbianism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24496543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dollalpaca/pseuds/dollalpaca
Summary: The surfing season in Honolulu is at its peak, with every surfer, old and new, having their eyes on the big prize of the Hawaii Surf Association annual competition. As the day of the competition comes closer, Crystal tries to not get distracted with a certain Californian girl, Vanessa swears she’s over Brooke, Yvie tries to seduce the hotel’s lifeguard and Jaida is just witnessing everything go down as she sips on her piña colada.
Relationships: Brooke Lynn Hytes/Plastique Tiara, Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd, Jackie Cox/Nicky Doll, Jaida Essence Hall/Jan Sport, Monét X Change/Monique Heart, Scarlet Envy/Yvie Oddly, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo/Kameron Michaels
Comments: 64
Kudos: 149





	1. my burning sun will, some day, rise

**Author's Note:**

> helloooooo!! welcome to zyan goes apeshit, summer edition. write the house down is back and so am i! like waitress au, the updates will be daily, and i'll try not to lose my sanity in the process. comments are asked and welcomed, pretty please. like the tags said, i have no actual knowledge about surf besides a vague google search. there will be accuracy mistakes, that's granted.
> 
> yes, the title and chapters are lana del rey's lyrics. because why the hell not amirite.
> 
> frey is an angel for putting up with me, and i'll gladly take the blame if she fails her exams (which she probably wont, 'cause she's smart.)

It’s summertime and the beach is packed.

Crystal doesn’t expect any less, honestly; the summer season is at its peak, plus Honolulu is always a famous tourist spot. No wonder there’s barely a spot to stand in O’Ahu.

The waves are good today and Crystal engages in a playful banter when she encounters some of her fellow surfers while training. There’s a surfing competition next week, a very important one at that, and every surfer and their grandma wants that prize. To think of what she could do with the money — Crystal might just layback for the rest of the season and enjoy some very well deserved vacations before going back to Missouri for yet another college year.

She finds it sad that the waves last only during the summer, because she’s capable of surfing them even when the water temperature is below 0 and would catch a cold for the mere act of standing too close to the water (“Colds start with the feet,” her mother has been telling her since she was a child, and it just stuck.)

But she doesn’t have to worry for the winter that’s still months away; right now she just lets the Sun burn her skin as the water soaks her entire body.

She feels lightheaded, like she’s capable of doing anything while she’s on her surfing board.

“You getting’ better, Glass,” Vanjie shouts, while riding the same wave as her.

Crystal laughs loudly, the nickname ‘Glass’ still sounding so wild to her, she sometimes wonders why and how did Vanjie ever come up with that one.

“What do ya wanna bet that I’ll beat your ass next week,” Crystal yells back, and Vanjie cocks a brow, focused on keeping her balance.

“Fuck off, I bet you won’t even last the rest of training without falling.”

“If I make it through training without falling you’re buying me a drink at Sal’s.”

Vanjie meets her gaze for a brief second and laughs shortly.

“Es más fácil decirlo que hacerlo, but you got a deal, bitch.” She winks at her and Crystal takes it upon herself to win that bet.

“Veamos si puedes conmigo, perra.”

*

Gigi is, decidedly, not a beach person.

She gets it; the water looks pretty under the Sun, the palms make a good background for an Instagram picture, and her bathing suit fits her like a glove, drawing attention from both men and women, _but_ despite all this — she just can’t take how crowded it is, the children running around and yelling like banshees, how cold the water is, the dirty people that leave their trash behind, and a long etcetera.

Brita’s been so kind to invite them to their family’s house in Honolulu for a few weeks, Gigi is very much aware of it, which is why she tries not to be a gigantic bitch while they’re on the beach; she doesn’t want Brita to kick her out, basically.

Besides, Honolulu _is_ very pretty. One of the most beautiful cities she’s ever visited, actually. She doesn’t mind the rest of it; it’s this specific part of the city that she dreads. She’s also very aware of the irony of agreeing to go to a place that’s famous for its beaches while hating beaches, thank you very much.

She applies a generous amount of sunscreen to every inch of her body, still sitting under the umbrella and ignoring her friends’ pleas for her to join them in the water. Gigi merely says that she’ll meet them in a moment, and though they’re not very convinced by it, they still run towards the sparkly blue water.

Gigi clearly lied; as soon as they’re out of sight, she pulls out her phone and thinks for a moment about taking photos for her Instagram — if she’s going to spend most of this trip at the beach, she might as well take advantage of it and take some cute pictures for her feed. She didn’t pack so many bathing suits for nothing.

She’s scrolling through her DM requests —deleting the men, replying to the women— when there’s a sudden uproar from the people sitting around her. They’re cheering for something or someone. Gigi looks around, confused, until she lays eyes on the sea in front of her and the waves crashing against the shore; there are surfers in the waves, naturally, but these seem like the skilled type.

Gigi decides to film it for her Instagram Stories, because why not, they _are_ talented, and Gigi can barely float around in her parents’ pool in a donut floatie without rolling over and drowning.

One of them falls, and the crowd gasps, though Gigi isn’t all that interested in it. Her friends wave at her from the sea and Gigi scrambles to find an excuse not to join them.

*

Crystal can’t stop laughing, even when they arrive at the shore and all Vanjie does is shout at her, saying that she bewitched her or something, because there’s no way _she_ fell instead of her.

“Get over it, Vanj. You owe me now.”

She sticks her board into the sand, taking her hair tie off and rearranging her hair in a ponytail. Her hair is soaked, clearly, and Crystal’s hands are already tired at the thought of having to shampoo the sea water off it.

Crystal doesn’t mind though, it’s worth it.

Vanjie shots Crystal a deadly glare and rearranges her own hair, groaning slightly as she does so.

“I’m only paying you because a bitch keeps her promises,” she says. “Also, on the note of having drinks, you wanna grab a smoothie before going on with training? But you’re paying for your own drink, ho.”

Crystal laughs wholeheartedly with a nod. She goes to look between the pockets of her bag for money and asks one of her friends to watch her board for her; it’ll just be a moment.

They’re talking about their plans once the competition is done and what would they do if they get the prize money. Vanessa says she’ll pack up her stuff and go back to Puerto Rico for the rest of the summer even if she loses, and will chase waves on her hometown beach. Maybe teach a few of the little ones in her family to surf, if she has the time and patience for it.

“Y’know, the little shits are getting bigger and bigger, and they barely remember their aunt Vanessa! My girl Julia, bless that one, still remembers me — but, bitch, she did her first communion already! Damn, last time I checked she was still five,” Vanjie rambles, and Crystal definitely feels her on a spiritual level.

This is the part she likes about being friends with Vanjie, the fact they both have similar experiences with their Latin families and understand each other in a way most people wouldn’t. Her favourite part of summer is getting to spend it with her.

Crystal says something about her little nephew Mateo —who Vanessa adores, despite having not met him yet, just because his name matches with her surname— and how he’s gotten so big in the blink of an eye, already reaching Crystal’s hip, when she bumps into something.

Or rather, _someone_.

There’s a gasp and Crystal is wet yet again, though this time it’s sticky and it smells fruity. 

“Well, there goes ten dollars,” a voice snarls, and Crystal finally pulls up her gaze to meet the asshole that just spilled their drink all over her.

She finds a woman with long auburn hair, skin pale as snow, think as a rail, with pink plump lips and a pair of icy blue eyes staring right back at her. Crystal thinks it’s a shame that she’s an asshole, because she is really pretty.

“Watch where you walk, pendeja,” Crystal bites back and the woman rolls her eyes, avoiding her as she goes on with her way. Vanjie and Crystal briefly look at her before proceeding with what they were doing. “At least I can wash the stickiness off once we hit the waves again,” she consoles herself, resigned to smell like fruit until she gives her bathing suit a proper wash.

*

“I hate the beach,” Gigi declares, settling at Jackie’s side with a huff and her arms folded. Jackie quirks an amused eyebrow, barely stifling a laugh, and Nicky casts a side glance at her.

“Why’s that?” Nicky asks, her gaze still glued to her phone.

“Some idiot cost me ten dollars, can you believe? I didn’t even have a sip of that smoothie!” Gigi complains with a whine that’s rather childish. Jackie just laughs, patting her friend’s back.

“If you join us now, I’ll buy you another smoothie later.”

“Fuck off with that motherly tone, Jacqueline,” Gigi says with a laugh, Jackie gasps offended and swats her arm playfully.

“That’s not the way to talk to your friends, baby Geeg!” Jackie scolds her, only making Gigi laugh louder.

Jackie is the eldest of them all (though, to be fair, she’s only a couple months older than Brita) and she’s naturally the mom friend. She’s pulled them out of the bar, called cabs, helped them through heartbreaks, more than Gigi can count (though Gigi isn’t good at counting). It’s only fair she gets to do these jokes.

Gigi pouts and puts on her puppy eyes, locking her hands. “Do you promise to buy me a smoothie, though?” She asks, in a tone so high-pitched she annoys herself.

But never Jackie, she’s got the patience none of them have, so she just nods with an over the top sigh and forcefully drags her to the water.

Gigi hates what the salty water does to her hair, though to be fair — Jackie did buy her a smoothie once they came back to their spot.

*

Sal’s Shack has grown to be Crystal’s favourite place on the island.

She discovered it when she was a little girl and came to Honolulu for the first time, after her parents saved up for a whole year and her father pushed as much as he could for a promotion at his job. It isn’t just a restaurant or a bar; Sal doesn’t like labels, so he never put one on his establishment.

It’s whatever you want it to be, though it does become a bar after midnight, that title going away once the Sun is up.

When Crystal met Vanjie, almost five summers ago, she took her to Sal’s Shack, and Vanjie was so in love with the place they kept on coming back, with or without the other.

Sal immediately smiles upon seeing them enter, even if the place is already getting crowded, Sal tells them he’d be able to hear Vanjie’s voice from a mile away.

“What can I get you tonight, girls?” He asks, with that warm, kind smile that reminds Crystal of her childhood years.

“I’m in the mood for your spicy meatballs sandwich,” Vanjie says dreamily, prompting Sal to laugh wholeheartedly. Crystal follows her suit by saying she wants a burger, and tells Sal not to be shy with the sauce.

They get settled while they wait, talking about how their college careers are going and how much they want the summer to be endless.

There’s just something about this city that makes it magical, Crystal likes to think. She’s had a few summer flings there, never seeing them again once she packed up her things and came back to Missouri, but each one of them had something special that made Crystal feel as if it wasn’t _just_ a summer fling.

She wonders if she’ll find someone new this time around too, though it isn’t high up in her priority list.

*

Brita takes them to her uncle’s restaurant-bar-whatever, saying they _have_ to visit it, not only because they serve pretty good cocktails, but also because there are always some hotties hanging around.

Though the idea of a summer hook up is attractive to Gigi, this isn’t Los Angeles; she doesn’t have any cab numbers, she still can’t properly manage herself around, and would consequently get lost trying to come back to the house. She tells herself that she’ll wait a few days until she’s a little more familiar with the place, just in case.

They arrive to the bar —Gigi’s decided to call it a bar for her own sanity—, and much like at the beach, the place is full, and she can’t see a free table.

“Don’t worry, girls,” Brita says, “I called my uncle and told him to save us a table, follow me.” So follow they do. They absentmindedly link hands and elbow their way through the place. The music is blasting through the speakers, there’s a couple of people dancing, and a lot of others just standing with their drinks and nudging on them.

Gigi has to admit Brita was right; there are some attractive people around, and it takes all of Gigi’s willpower not to stare. Perhaps sticking to the rules she's just imposed on herself won’t be that easy.

They make it to the end of the bar and Brita smiles widely upon seeing her uncle, breaking the chain of hands and launching herself into his arms. The girls stand there awkwardly until they finish their conversation.

“He looks like Brita, but as a man,” Jan comments in a whisper, making Gigi and Nicky laugh. Jackie shushes them, though she agrees under her breath.

Brita introduces them one by one with a wide smile, and Gigi has to admit the resemblance between them is scary. Brita’s uncle gives them a warm welcome and tells them to call him Sal before guiding them to their table. It’s in a corner of the place and they can see everyone and everything, plus, they’re a few feet away from the bar. It’s a nice spot overall.

They get settled and Sal leaves them a few menus with the drinks options, including non-alcoholic drinks, and leaves to go back to work, telling them to look for him if they need anything.

Gigi briefly looks at the menu before setting it aside and looking around the bar, trying to find a face that stands out from the rest — instead, she hears a voice that breaks through the noise and makes a few heads turn around.

They voice comes from a few tables away, right in front of them. There’s a woman with dark, curly hair waving her arms around and talking with her friend, while the other woman sitting in front of her and facing Gigi is dying with laughter.

Gigi squints, finding her face oddly familiar, until it clicks.

*

Crystal throws her head back as she laughs, bracing her stomach as Vanjie grows louder and louder during her speech.

“And the fucking bitch had the AUDACITY to call me a fucking liar! Can you believe?” Vanjie slams her fist on the table and Crystal is hollering with laughter. She knows she shouldn’t have brought up the fact that her ex is also coming to the competition, but right now Vanjie is too worked up to back down.

For the longest time, Crystal thought Canada didn’t have any surfers — with such a cold weather, how could someone even want to enter the water? But it turns out that Vanjie’s ex, Brooke, is Canadian _and_ a surfer, and she’s going to be competing alongside them. She found out, because she follows Yvie Bridges’ socials, and she posted a picture with Brooke, captioning it with “ _Excited to be reunited with my sister in Honolulu!_ ” Except with a lot more exclamation marks.

Vanjie quickly tries to backpedal her entire rant by saying she’s not bothered at all by Brooke’s presence, because she’s over her and she’s seeing this girl, Kameron, who she met in a competition in Puerto Rico and is a sports photographer.

Crystal cocks a brow and before Vanjie can further prove to Crystal that she’s not over Brooke at all, she asks her if she wants another round of destornilladores. Vanjie nods effusively, tossing bills to her.

She heads to the bar and perches herself on it, waving at the barman. She places her order and when there’s a seat available, she takes it without hesitation.

Crystal is watching the barman as he mixes her drink, when someone slides into the empty seat next to her. She casts a quick glance over them and has to do a double take when the woman’s face is familiar.

She blinks repeatedly; this is the woman that threw her smoothie at her earlier that day.

It seems that Smoothie Girl recognizes her too, because she stares at her for a moment too long, and somehow Crystal finds the courage to speak up.

“You’re the asshole that threw their smoothie in my bathing suit,” Crystal finally speaks up.

“And you’re the asshole that threw herself into my smoothie,” she shots back, cocking one of her perfectly painted eyebrows, and Crystal has to admit that was a good one.

The barman places her orders in front of her; Crystal quickly pays him and Smoothie Girl takes advantage of his presence to place her own order. Crystal searches for Vanjie’s eyes among the crowd, and she finds her with her stare glued on her. She smiles when she sees their drinks, but frowns when Crystal points at the woman sitting beside her.

_It’s her_ , she mouths, but Vanjie tilts her head, confused. _Smoothie Girl_ , she mouths this time, and Vanjie looks surprised. She starts to mouth things Crystal can’t catch, but she guesses it’s a combination of _get your ass over here_ , and _that bitch_.

“I’ve been thinking all day about what you called me,” she says, attracting Crystal’s attention again. She frowns, confused.

“What? Pendeja?” She asks, and Smoothie Girl nods. “Oh, that’s Spanish for asshole.”

Smoothie Girls snorts, cocking a brow. “What’s the Spanish word for ‘you owe me ten bucks’?”

“That would be ‘in your dreams,’” Crystal retorts, the brunette rolls her eyes.

She knows Vanjie is watching them closely, her stare burning a hole in Crystal’s neck, in case hands need to be thrown. But she has a feeling she won’t be needing Vanjie’s hands — not that she can say the same about this woman.

The barman leaves a drink in front of Smoothie Girl and she pays with a coquettish smile, Crystal thinks her drink smells way too fruity.

“That smoothie left my bathing suit smelling like fruit even when I washed it three times,” Crystal comments, trying to sound nonchalant. The woman cocks a brow as she sips on her drink. “What flavor was it, anyway?”

She seems surprised by the question, though she’s quick to answer.

“Uh, mango and peach, I think,” she replies and Crystal scrunches up her nose.

“Ugh, that sounds hideous.”

“It’s not! Had you licked your bathing suit you would know it’s very tasty.” She laughs at her own joke, and Crystal finds herself laughing too.

It’s weird how just moments ago they were calling each other assholes and now they’re laughing like nothing happened.

Crystal scoots herself closer in the chair, their knees practically brushing as she tries to catch her gaze.

“You got a name, Smoothie Girl?” She inquires in a casual tone. Smoothie Girl finally meets her gaze, and her blue eyes aren’t as icy as the first time they ran into each other.

“Genevieve, but everyone calls me Gigi.” She offers her hand to shake and Crystal gladly takes it. “And you?”

“I’m Crystal. Some people call me Crys, others Cryssie — and that dumbass over there,” she discreetly points at Vanjie, who’s typing away in her phone, trying to act as if she hasn’t been staring at them for a long minute now, “calls me Glass. Don’t ask me why, she just does.” Crystal shrugs, and Gigi laughs.

She feels some sort of pride blooming in her chest at making Gigi laugh.

“So, Crystal,” Gigi begins. “Do I have to assume you’re a surfer? I mean, what you were wearing when you ran into my smoothie looks like something a surfer would wear.”

Crystal nods enthusiastically, proceeding to tell her that she’s been surfing on and off since she was just thirteen and how she comes to Honolulu every year, rarely shifting her destination for the summer.

In return, Gigi confides her that she’s from California and it’s her first time in Honolulu, saying that her friend —Sal’s niece, apparently— invited them and she just couldn’t say no, even when she isn’t that much of a beach enthusiast. She hates them, in fact.

Upon hearing this, Crystal lets an over the top gasp that makes Gigi go into a fit of giggles, apparently already expecting that reaction.

“What the fuck? Dude, you can’t be serious,” she exclaims, and Gigi continues giggling.

“I’m deadly serious,” she assures her, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger.

“You don’t even like the food or ice cream?”

“I do, I hate the dirty people that leave their trash behind, though.”

“What about the kids? They’re always so cute — running around with their water guns and getting excited over everything. Some remind me of my own little cousins.”

Gigi visibly scrunches up her nose, doing a disgusted face.

“I hate kids, actually.”

Crystal folds her arms in a huff, intently staring at Gigi.

“No, there’s no way you’re that much of a… Beach Grinch,” she blurts out, the embarrassment flooding over her as soon as the words come out from her mouth. Gigi cocks a brow.

“Beach Grinch? Now that’s original,” Gigi says, leaning in closer to Crystal, a wicked smile painted in her lips. “Y’know, though I find the beach extremely boring, I can’t say the same for the people that like it.”

Crystal grins; she’s played this game far too many times, but something in Gigi makes her think this time it won’t be as easy as with the other ones.

Just when she’s lining up a witty reply, Gigi suddenly scoots back, a bashful smile where there used to be a wicked one.

“Sadly, I don’t have the time to think too much about it, ‘cause I’m here to have a good time with my friends. Later!”

She hops off from her chair, bringing her drink with her, and makes her way back to her friends, swaying her hips as she walks and making her skirt fly with the movement.

Crystal takes a moment to realize what Gigi just did, and when she finally pulls herself back together to walk over to Vanjie with their drinks, she tries to convince herself that maybe Gigi is another one of those straight girls wanting to “experiment.” It’s what she says to herself to make her cheeks cool down several degrees.

Vanjie says they can cash the bitch outside if she wants to fight, but Crystal just dismisses her with a wave of her hand.

After they finish their drinks, they hang around at Sal’s for a little longer, dancing when there is a good song playing and talking with strangers, and just before they leave, Crystal looks through the crowd for Gigi’s eyes, and she finds her staring right back. What she sees in her eyes makes her stomach twist.

‘ _If she’s playing hard to get, then it’s on_ ,’ she thinks, and the next thing she thinks is that Gigi can read her mind, because the wicked smile is back into her face before Crystal withdraws her gaze. 


	2. I'd like to hold her head underwater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to day 2, this time the prompt was camping. hope you enjoy! comments are very appreciated. :)
> 
> TW: alcohol

“Brooke, if you don’t get that stupid pout off your face, so help me God,” Yvie complains, cocking a sly brow. Brooke groans, tearing off her gaze from her phone she’s been looking on since they sat at the hotel’s cafeteria, scrolling through her ex’s Instagram.

Yvie gets it. They broke up and ended in bad terms last season, so the city brings memories to Brooke she'd rather forget — that, and the fact she’s supposed to compete against Vanessa in a week, puts her in a mood that’s especially annoying Yvie. She hates to see her best friend like this, but it’s been almost a year and all she wants is for Brooke to move the fuck on.

“Would you let me mop around in peace? It really doesn’t help that she’s going to the beach party tonight,” Brooke huffs, putting her phone away.

“And how’d you know she’s going?” Yvie asks, ready to scold Brooke if necessary. Brooke, sensing how pissed off Yvie is, puts up her hands in surrender.

“There’s an Instagram group chat with all the surfers that are participating this year and she’s there — I may not be a genius, but I can put two and two together.” Brooke unlocks her phone again and shows Yvie the chat; she frowns as she scrolls through it.

“Oh, yeah, I’m in this thing too, but I moved it to general. I don’t like group chats,” she comments, giving Brooke her phone back. Before she can say anything, Yvie puts up her index finger and tries to imitate her mother’s tone when scolding her as good as she can. “If you get wasted tonight and end up crying and begging her to take you back, I will rebuke your friend privileges and steal back the surfboard I gifted you for your birthday.”

Brooke gives an over the top gasp and clasps a hand on her chest. “How dare you, Yvette Diane Catherine Bridges! You’ll pry that surfboard from my cold, dead hands.”

Yvie laughs wholeheartedly at Brooke’s empty threat and soon they go back to their usual playful banter, and she’s happy when Brooke has yet to bring Vanessa up and the beach party thing seems to have been swept under the rug.

The day is warm and sunny, perfect for practicing or just hanging out. The cafeteria is right in front of the pool and Yvie has a good view of it; it’s still early in the morning and it’s closed, but there are children running around and chasing each other. Yvie tries to choke back a laugh when she sees how a kid falls to the ground, and Brooke slaps her in the arm when she catches her, telling her to not be rude.

Yvie rolls her eyes and when she goes to see where the kid had been lying, she sees a woman kneeling by their side and helping them up, with a big, kind smile plastered on her face. She helps the kid up and calms them down, sending them off with their mom once she wiped their tears.

She stares at the woman a little too long for it to be considered normal, but with the way her fiery red hair shines under the Sun and her shiny smile adorns her face, she finds it hard not to.

“If you keep staring, the least you can do is woman up and go talk to her,” Brooke playfully says, poking her arm, forcing Yvie to focus back on her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Yvie deadpans, making Brooke chuckle.

Their conversation carries on normally and Yvie still glances at the pool from time to time, hoping to see the redhead woman around.

*

Vanessa blinks twice when she sees what Crystal is wearing for the beach party. Then blinks again, until Crystal notices her staring and explains herself before Vanessa can say anything.

“I have my bikini under this. ‘Sides, Natti Natasha wore something similar in No Lo Trates.”

“Ah.” Crystal shrugs, and Vanessa eyes Crystal up and down one last time. The matching yellow crop top and skirt isn’t what she’d normally wear, like at all. Especially considering the crop top barely covers her breasts.

It clicks when Vanessa opens the group chat and sees a message from Jaida, saying she’s arrived to her hotel. A sneaky smile appears on Vanessa’s face as Crystal puts on her golden hoop earrings.

“So, you got any idea of what Jaida’s wearin’ tonight?” Vanessa inquires nonchalantly, and Crystal almost snaps her neck with the speed she turned to see Vanessa with.

She clears her throat before speaking, clasping the hook of the earring as she does so. Vanessa bites back a laugh.

“I wouldn’t know, no, she hasn’t spoken to me,” Crystal says, and Vanessa cocks an amused brow. Her tone is far too polite and fake, and it makes her want to holler with laughter. “Have you talked with her, though?” She asks, toying with her hands.

Vanessa shakes her head no, and her friend sighs under her breath before going back to her task of putting on the other earring, clearly upset.

It’s not that Crystal and Jaida have some sort of rocky story or something like that — well, they do. But it’s not that deep, or so Crystal swears. It’s just that they sleep around here and there whenever they’re in the same place, they have no strings attached; Jaida has made that very clear.

Crystal respects that, really. She doesn’t have strong feelings for her — but a text every now and then, other than to know if she’s coming over, would be nice.

Vanessa doesn’t bring Jaida up again, because she knows Crystal wouldn’t hesitate to pull the Brooke card yet again. She rolls her eyes when, almost as if on cue, she sees a text from Yvie pop up in the group chat, saying she and Brooke are arriving a little late.

She can already sense the awkwardness in the air, but she tells herself she won’t let Brooke ruin her night. Because she’s over her. Of course she is.

Her thoughts are interrupted with a message from Kameron, and a soft smile appears on her face as she answers it.

*

“Jan, remind me why did we ever listen to you,” Gigi complains with a huff, folding her arms with a childish pout when the tent doesn’t stay up and falls apart after a few seconds.

Jan takes a big breath and goes to help Gigi. She doesn’t understand why she packed one of those tents that are meant for hard ground, knowing they were going camping at the beach. It’s part of her stupid charm, perhaps.

Once they find a way to make Gigi’s tent stand up for more than just seconds, Jan claps satisfied and goes over to steal a snack from one of Jackie’s Tupperware, earning a playful slap on the wrist when Jan tries to pick up a halva.

“That’s for later, be patient,” she scolds her and Jan pouts. “Why don’t you go join Brita and Nicky at beach volley?” Jackie suggests, making the blonde cock a skeptical brow, as she looks over their friends. It’s already dark and the only light they have it’s from the wood fire Jackie is cooking their food on — Brita and Nicky lose the ball a couple of times, but insist on keeping playing.

Jackie nudges her to join them and Jan, almost reluctantly, does so. It’s fun for a moment, until Brita throws the ball too far away and it’s Jan’s turn to go fetch it. The blonde rolls her eyes with a groan, turning on her phone’s flashlight and walking away to find the ball.

It becomes crystal clear that Brita has a heavy hand, because she’s already far from their spot and she still can’t see the ball. Jan hears voices and sees lights not so far away, so she turns around with a huff and starts mentally scolding Brita for throwing the ball too hard.

“Crystal, for fuck’s sake, where did you learn to play beach volley?” She hears a shout behind her and her ears perk up, turning around to see a ball roll up not so far. She points at it with her flashlight and lights up when she sees the purple pattern.

Jan goes to reach for it just when another woman is aiming for it, and they stare at each other for a second as Jan perches the ball on her hip.

“Sis, if you excuse me, that’s my ball,” the woman politely says and Jan cocks a brow.

“Nuh-uh, it’s mine; my friend threw it too far by accident,” Jan declares, holding on tight to the ball.

The other woman gives her a daring look and parts her lips to speak, but before she can say anything else, she hears Gigi calling out for her and turns around, watching as her friend jogs up to meet her and catches her breath before speaking.

“Jan— that’s not— Nicky found the ball tucked in some bushes— that’s not our ball,” Gigi struggles to say, and Jan blushes from head to toe, her mouth agape as the woman gives her an _I told you so_ kinda look. “Shit, I really am out of form,” Gigi comments, straightening up her pose.

Jan licks her lips and meets the woman’s gaze, reluctantly giving the ball back.

“I’m sorry,” she says through gritted teeth. To her surprise, the woman winks at her.

“Don’t worry, mistakes happen. ‘Sides, I couldn’t be mad at a pretty girl like you,” she says sultrily, staying firmly put where she is, not really acknowledging Gigi’s presence.

Jan blinks repeatedly. Is this woman for real flirting with her? She’s a solid twelve out of ten, and the fact she’s standing in front of her wearing a red bikini with just some fabric wrapped around her hips, isn’t helping.

Gigi tugs on her arm and Jan bites the inside of her cheek.

“Oh, uh, thanks?” she manages to say, “You’re, uh, you’re not so bad yourself.” The woman smirks, and Jan awkwardly finger guns. Jan can _feel_ Gigi rolling her eyes.

“I can already hear Nicky saying, ‘non mais en fait t'es juste un gros stéréotype de la lesbienne inutile quoi,’” Gigi mockingly says; her French pronunciation isn’t great, but Jan gets it because, after being friends with Nicky for such a long time, they picked up a decent amount of French thanks to her and her constant nagging.

The woman cocks a brow, confused, as Gigi tugs on Jan’s arm again.

“Jaida, what’s taking you so long?” a high pitched whine comes from behind the woman, Jaida presumably, and Jan doesn’t miss the smirk on her face as she rolls her eyes. Gigi tightens her grip on Jan’s arm and she finds her eyes wandering off to where Gigi is staring.

There’s another woman walking up to them, wearing matching yellow crop top and a skirt, and Jan recognizes her as the woman Gigi was flirting with at the bar two nights ago.

Jan never thought the island could be this small.

Jaida looks back at her briefly before speaking, “On my way,” she simply says, turning around and giving Jan one last look. But it was _the look_. “See you ‘round, I guess.”

She goes to meet her friend, who’s staring intently at Gigi and snaps out of it when Jaida throws the ball at her. Gigi also snaps out of it, turning around and leaving to the camp without Jan.

Jan awkwardly stands there for a second before following Gigi, wondering what just happened.

*

The night isn’t half as bad as Brooke would’ve expected it, barely acknowledging Vanessa’s presence despite the fact her voice is loud and there’s no way she doesn’t hear what she says.

She strikes up a conversation with April Carrión as a messy beach volley match starts between Crystal and Jaida, with Jaida losing the ball and taking too long to fetch it. April makes a comment about how serious Jaida takes everything as she nudges on her drink.

“I think she’s one to look out for this year,” she says, making a disgusted face when she takes a long sip from her drink. “Girl, who let Monique prepare the drinks? This is pure vodka!” April exclaims with a laugh, and Brooke chuckles.

This ‘beach party’ isn’t organized by the people of the competition at all, so they had to improvise a lot of things — a gazebo with some fairy lights, different chairs sprawled across the place, a couple of speakers with music blasting and a folding table filled with the alcohol they brought, and a single mixer was all they had. Not that they needed much to have fun or that there were that many people, to begin with.

This whole thing had been orchestrated by Monique and Monét, and the only surfers invited had been the ones they were close with. Brooke doesn’t know some of these people that well, but she is sure she’s seen them around — except for the Asian girl with the wavy platinum hair.

Brooke squints, blinking owlishly; it’s been a good three hours and she’s starting to get tipsy, especially considering how much undiluted alcohol Monique’s cocktails have. Though it’s not the alcohol’s fault that she can’t recognize this girl; she truly doesn’t know who she is.

“Hey, April?” Brooke says, April hums, pouring a mixer to her drink. “Who’s that girl? The one in the silver bathing suit.”

April discreetly looks at who she’s pointing and clicks her tongue. “Ah, that’s Plastique Edwards, one of the new surfers.” Brooke cocks a brow, looking back at Plastique.

“Who names their child Plastic and gets away with it?”

“Ay, nena no, that’s not her real name! It’s her nickname. I’m not sure what her real name is, though.” April shrugs with a laugh, and Brooke hums with her lips glued to her cup.

Vanessa is yelling at whoever has the aux cord to play Tusa, and Brooke finds herself cringing. She knows that song despite it being in Spanish - she has searched up the lyrics in English. Vanessa used to put that song in her Instagram Stories all the time after they broke up. Not that Brooke paid it any mind.

She sees Yvie walking up to talk with Plastique along with Monét, and Brooke chugs her drink in a quick motion just as the first beats of Tusa start playing. Brooke gets up and motions at April to follow her, and though she’s confused, she follows her suit.

They engage in a conversation with Plastique, Monét, and Yvie about the upcoming competition. Yvie glances at her every other minute to check on her, probably because Brooke is starting to stutter when she speaks, and that’s a clear sign that she’s drunk. That or she’s growing progressively intoxicated, anyway.

Vanessa belts the words of the chorus along with Crystal, and April joins them from afar, and Brooke doesn’t know where to hide. She can feel Vanessa’s stare burning on her neck.

“I’d ask for the aux cord to play my favorite Vietnamese songs, but I have a feeling I’m either going to ruin the mood or be the only one that actually knows what they’re saying,” Plastique comments with a wholehearted laugh, and Brooke’s eyebrows shot up.

“Hey, if it’s got a good beat, I may not understand it, but I’ll vibe with you,” Brooke assures her, slurring more than she intends to, and Plastique giggles in response. She decides to focus on Plastique and not on the slight frown Yvie gives her.

“Aw, thank you! That’s nice.” Plastique smiles brightly and gives her arm a squeeze, then squeezes it again when she notices that Brooke actually has a good set of muscles.

Plastique scoops herself closer to Brooke, who decides to block out Vanessa’s stare that’s still trying to burn a hole in her neck, and instead focus on Plastique.

She’s not sure how much time has passed when she hears Yvie ask where Crystal and Jaida are.

*

Gigi decides she isn’t sleeping tonight.

The sea at night is lovely and all, but her bed is awful and she’s pretty sure there’s a rock under her tent. And it’s not as if she can toss and turn, trying to find a better angle, because Nicky is sprawled on her inflatable mattress and takes a lot of space in the stent.

She steps outside to get some fresh air, still wearing her tank top and silk shorts, and finds herself wandering off to the shore. She has to admit, the beach really is pretty at night. Gigi lets the cold water wet her feet, curls up her toes when she feels the sea foam tickle her and stares at the reflection of the stars in the water.

Maybe she owes Jan an apology for being such a pain in the ass.

Gigi feels the breeze hit her on her bare skin and shivers a little, but she doesn’t complain. It’s nice, actually.

She’s not so far, but not so close to their camp anymore, and Gigi startles a little when she sees someone settling by the shore of the beach a few feet away. Gigi has the instinct to turn around and go back to the camp, but she squints a little, noticing it’s just Crystal.

Gigi debates on whether or not she should approach her, before finally deciding that, fuck it, why not? She has bumped into her three times now. That’s too much for a coincidence.

“Hey,” Gigi says awkwardly, catching Crystal’s attention. Her eyes widen, surprised to see her again, apparently.

“Hey,” she says, her voice barely more than a whisper. “What’re you doing here?” Gigi cocks a brow when she notices the slurring, settling besides her, but keeping a fair distance.

“I came camping with my friends,” she replies, motioning behind her. Crystal hums, scratching the back of her neck. “What are you doing here? Weren’t you at some party with that friend of yours, the one that was eyeing Jan up and down?” Gigi asks in a lighthearted tone, but Crystal looks at a far point in the distance, the emotion in her eyes one Gigi can’t put a finger on.

“Uh, kinda. I really don’t wanna talk about it with a stranger,” Crystal whispers, shying away from Gigi’s gaze.

Gigi knits her brows in a frown, aware of her fuck up.

“Oh, uh, that’s okay.” There’s silence for a moment before Gigi finds something else to say, just to not let the conversation die down. “Did you ride any cool waves recently?”

The question makes Crystal meet Gigi’s gaze, her lips quivering in a smile.

“What kind of question is that?” She replies with another question, biting back a laugh. Gigi smiles with a shrug.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t want to stop talking to you,” Gigi admits sheepishly, and Crystal smiles softly.

“Aren’t you too busy hanging out with your friends?” Crystal quips. Gigi feels her cheeks burn when she remembers what she said to her that night at the bar.

“Well, they’re asleep right now, so.”

“Huh.”

There’s silence again, but this time is different. Crystal looks at Gigi from head to toe, scrutinizing her without a word. Until her eyes shamelessly stop on her lips and Gigi feels her heart skip a beat.

When a cold breeze hits Gigi yet again, she presses her knees against her chest and rests her chin on them, staring back at Crystal.

“You’re not a fan of the cold, huh?” Crystal says, smiling a little.

“Normally I am, but that’s when I’m under a blanket with my cat and watching Netflix,” Gigi replies as a shiver goes down her spine, but Crystal seems completely unbothered by the cold air. “I suppose you like cold.”

“I do, actually. You get used to it when you spend entire days at the sea, sometimes nights too. I mean, you get colds and shit all the time, but it’s worth it,” she comments, a genuine smile blooming on her face. Gigi feels something in her stomach give a twist and scoots herself closer to Crystal.

“That’s so cool, like, that you’re so passionate about your sport,” Gigi says, “I’d love to have that kinda passion for something other than fashion.”

“At least you have a passion for something!” Crystal says with a cheery tone, making Gigi laugh. “Honestly though, surfing is fun. You don’t have to ride the waves if you don’t want to; you can just chill with your surfboard and float around.”

Gigi scrunches up her nose, remembering that one time she was just floating around in her donut floatie in her parents’ pool, back in Los Angeles, when she moved less than an inch and ended up close to drowning.

“Yeah, uh, I’m not even good at floating,” she confesses, biting the inside of her cheek. Crystal laughs, but stops when Gigi doesn’t join her.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’ve never been more serious about something in my life.”

Crystal blinks repeatedly before she speaks again.

“I can teach you,” she says.

“Teach me what?”

“To float on a surfboard.”

Now Gigi is the one blinking repeatedly, fighting back a stupid toothy smile.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’ve never been more serious about something in my life,” Crystal repeats her same exact words, and now Gigi can’t fight back the smile spreading across her face. She tries to argue that she’s not that stupid, but Crystal holds up one finger. “I always have my surfboard in the back of my car, ready for anything. You say the magic words and I’d be delighted to teach you,” she says earnestly, and Gigi bites her lower lip.

She thinks about it for a moment, the fact she’s sitting here with her instead of pushing Nicky off her inflatable mattress to have a better sleep is already wild. So she decides to bite the bullet; what’s the worst thing that can happen, anyway?

“You think you could give me a lesson right now?” She asks, and it comes off flirtier than she originally intended to. Crystal cocks a brow.

“For real?” Gigi nods and she scratches her cheek, biting the inside of it. “Uh, I guess I’d have to go look for my surfboard then. If I leave, you promise you won’t run away?” She tries to sound jokey, but Gigi can sense her nervousness.

“I promise,” she merely says. Crystal nods and stands up to go find her car.

*

Crystal holds on tight to her surfboard as she approaches Gigi.

She can’t believe she’s doing this, especially since she barely knows the girl and she should be heading back to the party; Vanessa must be worried for her whereabouts already.

For all she knows, Gigi might be a pathological liar by saying she doesn’t even know how to float — she might kick her off her own surfboard and leave her there to drown. Though she wants to believe she doesn’t have bad intentions; she doesn’t look like that kind of person.

But then again, Crystal finds Gigi incredibly hot, so her good judgment is probably clouded with lust.

She finds Gigi exactly where she left her and sticks her surfboard in the sand, giving her a hand to stand up.

“You sure you wanna do this right now?” She asks gently, and Gigi nods again.

“A hundred percent.”

Crystal smiles, sighing under her breath as she takes off her crop top and skirt in a quick motion that Gigi barely registers. She just stands there, watching as Crystal folds her clothes and lays them on a rock; she can feel her eyes scan every inch of her body, and as much as she’d like to say it creeps her out, it really doesn’t.

Crystal shifts her attention back to her, tying her hair in a bun as she signals her board.

“If you’re still up on my offer, I suggest you get rid of your clothes too.” She shrugs with a cheeky grin and Gigi stammers a little.

“I don’t— I have nothing under this shirt and my clothes are back in the tent,” she admits, blushing from head to toe.

“Oh,” it’s all that Crystal says. Gigi stares at Crystal for a second too long as she gets her surfboard. “Then I hope you don’t mind wetting these clothes.”

Crystal turns around to look at her, this time with a softer smile, holding out her hand for her to take it. Gigi bites her lip before taking it and following her into the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr is @chachkisalpaca as always x


	3. me and my girl, we got this relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, welcome to another chapter. before we go to today's chapter, i'd just like to say that if anyone sees my work posted in another platform, aside from tumblr and/or the artificialqueens blog, please please please tell me. i have never given my consent for people to post adaptations and/or "inspired fics" from my own stories. plagiarism is not okay.
> 
> that being said, enjoy today's chapter. we're over with the character introductions and things are getting spicier.

“Is that a hickey?” Jan asks during their improvised breakfast.

It’s still early, so there aren’t many people at the beach just yet. The Sun is up and shining bright, and Gigi is so sleep deprived she forgot about the purple spot in the crook of her neck.

Gigi shakes off the tiredness and blinks repeatedly, her cheeks getting as red as a tomato when she notices all of her friends are staring at her. She decides that there’s no point in lying and sets down her plastic cup with steaming hot coffee Jackie somehow managed to prepare.

“I had sex with someone last night,” she simply says with a shrug. The screeches from her friends hurt her ears, but she had seen them coming.

“What? When did your hoe ass get a hook up?” Brita exclaims, “Did you download fucking Tinder again, sneaked out when we were all asleep, and came back?” Gigi laughs at Brita’s incredulous tone, though she’s nervous and her cheeks are still red.

“Ew, no, you know I don’t do dating apps. That’s how my ex happened,” Gigi says, matter-of-factly, “You see, Nicky was hoarding the tent with her inflatable mattress—”

“Hey! I did ask you if you wanted to sleep with me!” Nicky complains, folding her arms, though a laugh fights to escape her mouth.

“Yeah, and I told you my name’s not Jackie,” Gigi deadpans, and both Nicky and Jackie shut their mouths. She smiles cheekily and goes on. “Anyway, as I was saying; I left the tent, walked along the beach, found this girl all alone, talked a bit, and I guess it just happened.”

She purposely leaves out that the girl was no one other than Crystal, and they entered the sea, floating near the shore until, much like Gigi predicted it, she fell off the board and Crystal had to drag her back to the shore. The fabric of her tank top stuck to her skin, making her shiver like crazy, and Crystal tried to help her warm up, she really did — but one thing led to another, and before Gigi knew it, Crystal was sucking on her neck as her hands pinned her down.

The girls holler, not believing what they’re hearing. All of them say some sort of variation of _there’s no way your game is that good_ , and Gigi just lets them talk as she sips on her coffee.

Her phone rings in her bag so she aims for it, juggling to unlock it. She bites back a smile when she sees the notification from Instagram.

_@crystalandmeth has started following you._

Gigi wants to smack Crystal for having such a handle. No wonder she couldn’t find her when she searched her up after that night at the bar.

*

Scarlet vaguely scans the pool; it’s just opened and it’s still fairly early, but there are girls sunbathing, taking pictures, and some children playing by the edge of the tiny pool, splashing each other. She smiles at that. Sometimes she even likes the kids - when they’re not pushing each other into the big pool and Scarlet has to prevent a child from drowning, that is.

The hotel is medium sized, but since it’s the summer, there’s not a room that’s not booked. She knows. Her mothers have owned it for the last twenty years. She grew up running around the halls and with the noise of the tourists settling in their rooms, dragging their suitcases with big smiles plastered across their faces.

Though her mothers have insisted that she didn’t have to work at the hotel during the summer if she didn’t want to, Scarlet had decided to fill the position of lifeguard for the morning shift until they find someone else. It’s not as if she minds, anyway; she has nothing better to do, since all of her friends traveled outside the country for their vacations, leaving her stuck in the island. That’s the downside of being friends with stuck up rich kids, she supposes.

She tells a few kids to stop running, brings back a volleyball that ended up landing on the deep side of the pool, and that’s about it, for the most part. The morning shift is very laid back; the pool usually gets crowded during the afternoon, but that’s Adore and Courtney’s problem.

Lunch time rolls around before she notices it, and she closes the pool with a relieved sigh, immediately going to the cafeteria.

Scarlet picks a frozen burrito and asks one of the ladies working at the cafeteria if they can pretty please heat it up with the nice microwave they have in the kitchen. Belinda rolls her eyes with a playful smile and squeezes Scarlet’s cheek before complying with her wishes.

“Damn, I didn’t know we could ask to use the good microwave,” a voice pipes up from her side. Scarlet giggles and turns around to look at whoever said that.

She’s met with the sight of a gorgeous woman with pink wavy hair. Scarlet licks her lips before answering.

“Oh, no, that’s uh, that’s staff privilege.” She shrugs, and the woman clicks her tongue, visibly disappointed. Scarlet looks at her plate and cocks an amused brow when she sees the bland vegetarian sandwich. “I don’t think you’ll need the microwave now, though,” she points out, nudging at her plate, and the woman stifles a laugh.

“Ah, that, yeah. This is all my stomach can handle right now — one of my friends got a little too carried away doing the drinks last night,” she comments, shifting her weight from one foot to another. Scarlet chuckles, she knows the feeling.

“Hangover food? Been there. I’m a little bolder though, I prefer French fries with a lot of ketchup,” she replies, just when Belinda hands her back her burrito. Scarlet blows a kiss her way and turns her attention back to the woman, slightly biting her lip before speaking. “D’you wanna sit together? I mean, unless you’re waiting for your friends.”

“No, it’s fine, I’m not waiting for them, I’d be stuck here for hours if I was,” she dismisses it with a wave of her hand and laughs. Scarlet thinks she has a pretty laugh. "I’m Yvie.”

“I’m Scarlet,” she introduces herself with a shiny smile.

*

Crystal sighs as she juggles her phone, struggling to put it on speaker as she currently is trying to make a decent lunch — never mind the fact it’s four p.m. and she skipped breakfast to sleep in.

She finally manages to put it on speaker and Vanessa’s voice fills the room, her tone far too annoyed and one Crystal’s grown to know all too well.

“Can you believe it, Crys? She’s but a child, and the bitch is almost thirty! I’m disgusted,” Vanessa rants, and Crystal almost snaps her optic nerve with the way she rolls her eyes.

“Vanj, hold the fuck up. Plastique is twenty two, in case you didn’t know, and Brooke is still twenty seven; the gap isn’t that big,” Crystal says. “’Sides, you two broke up last year, it’s obvious that she has moved on. So why don’t you focus on your hot bodybuilder girlfriend before I steal her off you.” She smiles cheekily when Vanessa gasps offended on the other side of the line.

“Hey! Plastic, Plastique, or whatever her name is, looks like a fucking teenager. How was I supposed to know?” She defends herself; Crystal can almost see her folding her arms with a childish pout. “Kameron is doing some gigs in California, photographing for an ice skating tour or some shit. She’s busy, but I did invite her for the competition.”

“Ajá.” Crystal is more focused in her lunch, making sure to cut the pepper as thin as possible. She knows it would’ve been easier to just order takeout, buy a soda from the drugstore around the corner, and settle in the couch and watch some garbage TV, but sometimes she misses the taste of a home cooked meal.

Vanessa goes on, talking her ear off about Kameron and how happy she is with her. She rolls her eyes; for someone in a happy relationship she sure talks a lot about her ex.

“…But that’s enough ‘bout me. What happened with you last night? Jaida came back way before you, bitch, and you reeked of sex. Like, you could barely walk straight, and you weren’t that shit faced. Spill, Glass,” Vanessa changes the topic, and Crystal nearly cuts her finger with the knife.

Her cheeks heat up when she remembers what happened at the beach with Gigi. Crystal doesn’t know if telling her to take off her soaked clothes on a whim had been a good or a bad idea, but she doesn’t regret anything — even if she still has sand in her scalp.

She clears her throat before speaking, glad that Vanessa can’t see her awfully red cheeks.

“Well, uh, remember Smoothie Girl?” she begins, throwing the pepper in the cooking pot. Vanessa musters an affirmative response. Crystal breathes in deeply. “So, like, Jaida and I finish our thing, and she tells me we should stop sleeping around, and I got excited, thinking she wanted to go on a date or something like that. But no, she actually meant that in a literal way, and naturally, I had already embarrassed myself,” Crystal rants with a groan. Vanessa just listens, “So, she left and I just. Stared at the water I guess. Then Smoothie Girl appeared out of nowhere, shit happened, one thing led to another, and suddenly I was pinning her to the ground.”

There’s silence on Vanessa’s end for what seems like an eternity, and Crystal proceeds to cut the chicken in tiny cubes, trying to not let her nerves get the best of her. She expected Vanessa to screech so loud she’d end up deaf.

“So, what you’re tryin’ to tell me is that your cheesy ass got ditched, and instead of moping around for a week, you went and slept with someone else right after?” She inquires slowly, as if she’s talking to an infant. Crystal rolls her eyes.

“Yeah.”

“Bullshit, Glass,” Vanessa declares calmly, “There’s no way in hell. You’re bullshitting me. You’ve been chasing Jaida Eleanor Hall’s ass for two years now—”

“Hey! That’s not true. It’s been a year and a half,” Crystal defends herself.

“—a year and a half, and you didn’t feel the least bit heartbroken? Really?”

Crystal shrugs, but soon realizes that’s stupid; Vanessa can’t see her.

“Vanj, you act as if I was in love with Jaida, to begin with,” she points out, perching herself against the countertop for a moment. “The girl was hot, I won’t deny it, and the sex was great — but, like, I told you I didn’t think we’d ever be something serious. I don’t hold any grudges against her.” And it’s true. Crystal’s disappointment at the moment had been magnified by the fact she made a fool of herself by misunderstanding what Jaida meant, and the alcohol usually made her a more sensitive person, if that was even possible.

Vanessa stays silent for a moment yet again, until she hears a loud sigh and some rumbling. Crystal frowns as she throws the chicken to the cooking pot, turning up the flames.

“Alright, I believe you, Glass. Now tell me, you and Smoothie Girl…?” She leaves the sentence hanging, prompting Crystal to complete it.

She laughs shortly, before checking her phone and seeing a notification from Instagram. She grins cheekily, wondering if Gigi had waited so long to follow her on purpose.

*

Jaida takes a spoonful of ice cream, trying not to choke with laughter at Monique’s re-telling of the previous night. She’d been gone for a short while, though apparently that didn’t prevent shit from going down.

“You should’ve seen Vanessa’s face when Brooke left with Plastique, oh my God, it was priceless,” Monique tells her, as enthusiastic as ever. Her ice cream melts more and more with every second that passes, but she can’t bring herself to care. Except when Monét tries to steal some of it, apparently. “Girl, had I known the bitch was that bold, I wouldn’t have invited her. I’d like her to still be alive by the end of the week.”

“Hey now, it’s not her fault Vanessa isn’t over Brooke,” Monét cuts in, “Plastique hardly knew any of y’all. She may not even know Brooke is Vanessa’s ex.”

Jaida hums in agreement, her mouth still full of ice cream. The three of them are staying at the same hotel, and they’re lucky enough there’s a good ice cream shop around the corner, so they decided to take the day off and just hang out. Not that the hangover allowed them to do anything else in the first place.

“Also, Vanessa’s a grown woman; I don’t think she goes around pitching fights because her ex’s over her, she’s better than that,” Jaida adds, wiping the rests of ice cream off her face.

Monét and Monique agree with her, and the conversation drifts to various topics, though Jaida notices they’re making an effort not to bring Crystal up. She appreciates it, because right now that's a can of worms she rather not open.

It's not that she regrets being with her, it's more like she hates herself for dragging their thing for so long, and by the way Crystal bit her tongue and nodded wordlessly when she told her she rather stop this, she can tell she hurt her — at least to some degree, because the rest of the night she'd acted as if nothing happened and everything was cool. Jaida doesn't know if it was faked or not.

Monét and Monique start to argue about something, probably about how they're not going to be easy on each other just because they're girlfriends now; they go way too fast for her to catch up, especially since she's still eating her frost mint ice cream and can't be bothered about their relationship right now — she hears about it on the daily, anyway.

Jaida brings the spoon to her lips when she looks past Monique's shoulder, looking at the entrance of shop, and she freezes for a moment. She blinks repeatedly, until she knows for real this is not her eyes deceiving her; the same woman as last night is seating near the entrance with someone else, chatting and laughing and looking even prettier in the daylight.

She squints, trying to remember her name; Jen, was it? She's pretty sure she heard her friend say it, but she can't remember that well. 

Jaida pulls her gaze away when she realizes she's staring, and tries to focus on whatever Monét and Monique are talking about. But soon she feels someone looking at her, and she steals a glance at the girl out of the corner of her eye; she finds that she's staring back at her, but she quickly withdraws her gaze.

Jaida smiles against the spoon. She doesn't question how is it possible she ran into her again, especially considering the island is big and the chances of seeing her again were slim. Perhaps it's a coincidence.

“I'm telling you, 'Nét, this bitch had an edgy phase!” Monique exclaims, tugging at Jaida's arm, causing her to accidentally throw a good chunk of ice cream on her blouse. Monique stays still for a moment as Jaida fumbles with the tissue paper. “I'm sorry, girl,” she says, with her tone so high pitched and full of regret, Jaida finds it hard to get mad at her. 

She sighs dramatically, leaving the tissues aside and standing up. “Don't worry, sis, it's no big deal. I can wash this, anyway.” She shrugs. “Though I'm expecting you to buy me a pina colada next time we hit the bar,” she teasingly says before leaving to the bathroom. 

She can hear Monét's laugh and the smack Monique gives her on the arm, pitching the blame for Jaida's ruined blouse on her. Sometimes Jaida swears neither one of them knows the volume of their own voices.

She wets a tissue and gets the ice cream off her skin before it gets sticky. The bathroom is tinier than she expected, but at least there's no one else. 

Or so she thought.

“Sweet baby Jesus, Nicole, how did you manage to burn the eggs?” a voice speaks from one of the stalls, and Jaida jumps a little.

A woman comes out from one the three stalls, holding her phone in the crook of her neck as she washes her hands. Jaida stiffs a little when she notices it's the girl from the beach. Jen (or Jan), apparently, remembers her too, because she stops for a moment when she sees her, biting her lower lip before speaking again.

“Nicks, just, don't touch anything else from the kitchen. Jackie and I will come back in a moment — please don't listen neither Gigi nor Brita, they're as bad cooks as you, 'kay?” She hangs up and sighs loudly, drying her hands before putting the phone back in the pocket of her shorts.

“That's quite an interesting daycare you got there,” Jaida comments lightheartedly, throwing the tissues to the trash. The woman chuckles, turning to see her.

“Keeping toddlers in their twenties alive is my passion,” she deadpans, playing with the hem of her shirt. Jaida laughs shortly. “I've heard they're easier to take care of once they're thirty,” she comments with a cheeky smile, making Jaida laugh again.

“I wouldn't have my hopes up if I were you,” Jaida replies, checking herself in the mirror and making sure she's wiped off all the ice cream 

She sucks in a quick breath, looking back at the woman, who's perched against the sink, texting someone.

“Hey,” she says, catching her attention. “This probably sounds crazy, but is there any chance you were at O'Ahu beach last night, looking for a ball, maybe?” Jaida wonders, and almost right away she sees Jen (or Jan) cheeks lit up. 

“Oh, Jesus, I was hoping you wouldn't remember me. That was so embarrassing. I'm sorry.” She covers her face with her hands and Jaida laughs softly, coming some steps closer. 

“Girl, it's fine, for real,” she assures her, and Jen (or Jan) slowly uncovers her face. The rosy tone in her cheeks makes her look cute. She bites her lower lip before continuing. “I did mean it when I said I can't be mad at a pretty girl.”

Jen (or Jan) smiles sheepishly and laugh, tucking a strand of lose hair behind her ear. 

“Well, I meant it too when I said you're not so bad yourself. I didn't mean to finger gun you, though.” 

Jaida laughs, and for a moment she forgets she has to go back to Monét and Monique. They strike up a conversation, and Jaida learns that her name is Jan and not Jen, and that she blushes a deep shade of red whenever she compliments her in any way. Jaida thinks she’s the cutest girl she’s ever met.


	4. i love her so bad, but she treats me like shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter four is upon us!! thanks to the people that sticks around and leaves nice comments, you guys are a sunshine 💗 hope you like this! it isn't my favorite chapter, personally. but i hope you enjoy nonetheless.

It doesn’t take long until Gigi shoots Crystal a DM on Instagram, and Crystal replies with her usual wit, clearly glad to hear from her again.

Their conversation flows naturally, and they hardly let go of their phones throughout the rest of the day. On Gigi’s side, the girls pester her at all times, trying to get a peek at the handle of the mysterious woman she’d hooked up with at the beach — at some point, Gigi locks herself in the bathroom to text Crystal in peace, and only comes out when Nicky threatens to post to her Instagram Stories a video of that one time she gave a motivational talk to a carton cutout outside of the club, completely shitfaced and convinced it was a real woman.

She vaguely tells Crystal that —without going into details about the video, clearly,— and Crystal feels relieved that she and Vanjie aren’t staying at the same room. She loves her friend, but Vanjie snores as loud as she speaks, and Crystal appreciates her personal space, something Vanjie rarely remembers exists.

Crystal checks the weather forecast and smiles upon seeing there’s another full day of heat and sun upon them. Tomorrow they’re going chasing waves at Waikiki along with Vanessa and April, and a thought sparkles in her mind.

She asks Gigi what is she doing the next day, and she replies by saying they still don’t know. Jan has been pleading them to go on this submarine to watch the fishes, Nicky just wants to hit any of the clubs in the city, Jackie and Brita prefer to go back to her uncle’s bar, and Gigi doesn’t even know what she wants for dinner.

She comments, trying to make it as nonchalant as she can, that she’s going to Waikiki with some friends to train, adding that the beach is beautiful and knows a place nearby with great drinks. Gigi sends her a pair of eye emojis before saying that maybe she’ll tell the girls about it.

Crystal goes to sleep with a smile, feeling like a giddy child.

*

“Don’t you think Gigi is acting weird?” Nicky asks Jackie, upon seeing Gigi willfully head to the water alongside with Jan and Brita. Jackie cocks a brow, scrambling to get the sunscreen from her bag.

“Yeah, I think so. I was surprised when she proposed coming to Waikiki, ‘cause, ya know, she hates beaches,” she replies absent-mindedly, triumphantly holding up the bottle and finally pulling her gaze to meet Nicky’s. “Do you think the mysterious woman is here?” Jackie inquires, starting to cover her body in sunscreen.

Nicky shrugs, pulling her knees closer to her chest, watching Jackie closely. She wonders for a moment if this is a good moment to talk about what happened, now that they’re alone, but Jackie’s been avoiding it for weeks, so she really doesn’t know if she’ll be willing to have that conversation.

Before she can say anything, Jackie turns her attention back to her with a sheepish expression.

“Can you help me with my back?” She asks, handing her the sunscreen. Nicky feels her face heat up as soon as she nods and Jackie turns around, the memories flooding back as her fingers spread the cream on her back.

Jackie shivers a little, but stays silent. Nicky exhales a breath she didn’t know she's been holding and tries to find the right words to express the feelings bottled up in her chest.

But she can’t. She’s afraid she might make things go back to being awkward, as if they hadn’t just moved past that point. There’s a lot of things Nicky wants to say, though, but she’ll just let Jackie live.

“Done,” Nicky musters, setting the bottle aside and wiping the remnants of the sunscreen on her thighs. Jackie thanks her and adjusts her bathing suit as she stands up.

“You coming?” She asks, pointing at the rest. Jan and Brita are splashing Gigi, who just screeches and runs around, trying to escape from them. Nicky chuckles, but shakes her head no.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” she simply replies. Jackie cocks her head a little, opening her mouth to say something. Nicky continues before she can say anything, “I have a feeling it’ll rain,” Nicky explains, and an amused smile blooms on Jackie’s face.

“What? But it’s sunny as hell! And the weather forecast said today would be hot,” Jackie points out, but Nicky just shrugs.

“I have a sixth sense,” she says, matter-of-factly.

Jackie just chuckles, saying she knows where they’ll be if she decides to join them.

*

Crystal bites back a laugh when she meets Gigi, who’s sitting under a palm. She has two smoothies and a shit-eating grin.

“Took you long enough,” she says, handing her the smoothie. Crystal laughs wholeheartedly, settling besides Gigi and leaving her surfboard next to her.

She didn’t lie when she said she takes her training seriously; just because Gigi is hot and they have chemistry, doesn’t mean she’s going to push aside her obligations. At the end of the day, they have a normal life to come back to once the summer is over — and Crystal has a surfing competition to win in five days.

“You won’t be complaining when I win next week and I treat you to a dinner,” Crystal teasingly says, taking a sip from her smoothie. Though she secretly hopes she’s manifesting it into the universe — she could use that money to pay a good chunk of her student loans, aside from taking Gigi to dinner.

“I’ll have you know, I’m not a gold digger and I like complaining. You’re basically fucked,” Gigi replies with a wink. Crystal merely chuckles, bumping shoulders with Gigi.

“Well, if it’s by you, I don’t mind,” Crystal quickly quips, making Gigi snort and spit her smoothie.

“You’re nasty,” she says, smirking, wiping off the smoothie from her chin.

“You like it.” Crystal brings a thumb to the corner of Gigi’s mouth and wipes off some sneaky drops, and the action is so familiar, yet so different, that it sends a shiver down her spine.

Gigi clearly remembers it too, but she doesn’t say anything, just watches her intently with the same hungry eyes as that night at the beach.

There’s something about her that Crystal feels drawn to; like a moth to the light, she can’t help but to gravitate towards Gigi. It sounds stupid, because they’re properly known each other for a day and a few hours, but she feels as if it’s the only appropriate way to put it.

They talk about different topics, but all Crystal wants to do is close the distance between them and capture her lips in a kiss.

Gigi is talking about her major in fashion when the first drop falls. Soon, the pouring rain makes them aware of the dark clouds that had progressively covered the Sun. Something they hadn’t noticed, being too distracted with each other.

“My car’s down the street, follow me,” Crystal soon instructs her, using her surfboard as an umbrella.

They walk rapidly, though they stumble once or twice and bump into people thanks to the surfboard over their heads; with each step they take the rain becomes more aggressive. The people are already leaving, with their things half packed as they cram into their cars, and Gigi lets a sigh of relief when she sits in the passenger seat, that conveniently has a towel already spread out.

“That was for my friend, Vanjie, in case she came back with me,” Crystal explains unprompted, adjusting her seatbelt.

Gigi nods absent-mindedly, pulling out her phone from her shorts and dialing Nicky’s number — she always has her phone glued to her hand. It rings three times before she picks up.

“Geeg, where are you?” Nicky exclaims, there’s noise in the background and Gigi vaguely makes out the girls’ voices.

“I’m fine, I’m with Crystal in her car,” she says, letting it slip. But she figures now it’s not the time to play secretive. “Where are _you_?”

“Well, we’re going to the bus stop. Can you meet us there?” Gigi briefly glances at Crystal, who’s just staring at her with her brows knitted in a frown.

“I, uh, I guess I can, but—” She says something in French that Crystal can’t understand for the life of her, even though French is technically close to Spanish.

Gigi sighs in relief and bids goodbye to whomever she was talking to, turning back to look at Crystal.

“Would you mind if I come back to your place with you? Until the rain stops, I mean,” she says, and Crystal blinks repeatedly until she catches on with Gigi’s wicked grin.

*

Brooke’s Canadian politeness makes her unable to ignore Plastique.

She somehow regrets having used her as a rebound and at the same time not — Plastique is sweet, witty, and caring, and the fact that she seems to not have a clue she used to date Vanessa is a plus. She doesn’t act awkward around her or makes jokes about it. It’s nice.

Plastique sends her a photo of a bird she saw outside her window before the rain started, because she thought she’d like it, and Brooke smiles; it’s such a small thing, but it makes her giddy.

She giggles and soon hears Yvie mocking her from the other side of the room. Brooke rolls her eyes and throws one of the cushions from the sofa her way — sadly, it goes past her, and Yvie sticks her tongue out.

“Don’t you have a lifeguard to thirst after?” Brooke bites back, making Yvie shut her mouth. But it’s only a matter of time before she speaks again.

“I mean, yes, but it’s funnier to be a pain in the ass for you,” she quips nonchalantly, and Brooke cocks a brow.

“Weren’t you the one telling me to move on just a couple of days ago?” She inquires, and Yvie rolls her eyes.

“Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean I like seeing your ass go back into a lovey-dovey mode. It’s disgusting,” Yvie says, doing an exaggerated disgusted face, and Brooke laughs loudly.

“Shut up and do me a favor — go get busy with the lifeguard and leave me alone, would you?” Brooke requests, throwing another cushion towards Yvie and hitting her in the face. She laughs, pleased, and Yvie throws it back at her.

“Her name’s Scarlet,” she says, “and I might just do it.” Yvie stands up, putting her phone in her pockets and heading towards the door.

“Don’t scare her off with your niche horror movies yet!” Brooke exclaims before she leaves.

Yvie flips her off and shuts the door behind her, Brooke chuckles just as a new text from Plastique comes in.

*

Gigi comes back way past after the rain ended and avoids all of her friends when they ask why did she come back so late — she just tells them she was busy with Crystal. And it takes them less than a minute to put two and two together and figure out that’s the name of the mysterious woman.

They decide to not push it, because even if Gigi has quite a few hickeys, she seems fine, and the dumb smile on her face makes them believe they shouldn’t worry.

Still, Jackie finds it hard not to worry, because she’s their mother hen after all, and she cares deeply for each one of the girls. Some more than the others.

Jackie’s gaze lingers towards Nicky, who’s leaning against the window with her cigarette dangling from her lips. She feels a knot in her stomach when the vision becomes too familiar — it makes Jackie regret not taking the opportunity to talk things out earlier that day and chickening out instead.

They’ve been acting like this for months, ignoring the elephant in the room, the writings on the wall — you name it, they’ve avoided it. Sometimes Jackie swears the girls know, when they shoot her sympathetic glares or joke about Nicky wanting to sleep with Jackie and vice versa.

If only they knew the truth.

Sometimes she misses waking up with Nicky and sneaking out from the others to make out, or how their hands found each other in a crowded space and even when they were alone, they wouldn’t let go.

Jackie misses all of that, but what she surely doesn’t miss is Nicky’s indecisiveness on whether or not she wanted a serious relationship with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr is @chachkisalpaca for anyone interested in screaming at me 😌💕


	5. the tension, it's getting hotter

The days go by in the blink of an eye.

Crystal texts Gigi every day, runs into her at the beaches more times that she could count, and her lips become sore from all the kissing and biting. She likes Gigi. She’s fun, laid back, and doesn’t tell Crystal her major in arts is useless, as she has no clue what she’s going to do with her fashion degree either.

Gigi tells her about her friends, how they tease her when she comes back home and how they’re dying to properly meet her. Maybe tomorrow, she always says. And Crystal tells her about her surfer friends —mostly Vanjie and April— but leaves Jaida out, because she’s a long story that she rather not unpack. Not with Gigi, at least.

Before they notice, it’s the night before the competition, and Monét and Monique organize a get together again — more chill, though. They decide to eat out at Sal’s Shack with the same people as previously, and for a moment it sounds like a good idea to Crystal.

Until she remembers the Brooke Lynn situation, and that Jaida will also be there. She prays to every God and every saint for the night to go smoothly, without any incidents.

Crystal puts on an orange dress that Vanessa deems hideous, but she likes it nonetheless. She likes to think she’s able to pull it off.

They have to join two tables and steal a few chairs to be able to fit in, but it’s still early and the place isn’t that crowded, so it doesn’t matter. Crystal sits next to Vanessa and April, and they quickly engage in a conversation in Spanish, mostly for April’s sake.

Brooke and Yvie are running late, because of course they are — they’ve never been early or on time for anything.

April makes a joke about this, with Plastique, who’s sitting in front of April, piping up and saying she sent her a text ten minutes ago that they were on their way. Crystal sighs under her breath when she sees Vanjie roll her eyes.

“I know, right?” Is all that she says, before going back to their previous topic. Crystal is surprised, but proud. It was about time.

Speaking of, Jaida is sitting in the row in front of her, talking with Monét and Monique, laughing and talking loudly to get a word in. Crystal feels the nostalgia hit her at moments, but then one of the girls tease her about Gigi and it goes away.

Though she’d known Gigi for a short time and were moving rather fast, Crystal didn’t mind. Gigi was the embodiment of a summer fling; fast, euphoric, ready to kiss her at any moment, and with endless smiles to give her. Part of Crystal hated that they lived in complete different sides of the country — she would’ve liked to take Gigi on a proper date.

Maybe next summer.

“Look who’s decided to appear,” Monique calls out when Brooke and Yvie approach their table.

Crystal glances at Vanessa out of the corner of her eye, but she doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by her.

“Don’t look at me. This one finally decided to make a move on the lifeguard right before we were supposed to leave,” Brooke says with an annoyed tone, pointing at Yvie with a cheeky grin.

The table soon erupts into a fit of giggles and exclamations, but Yvie doesn’t look the least bit bothered. If anything, she has a wide grin on her face as she sits next to Brooke.

“Hey! At least Scarlet gave me her number, and she’s coming to see me beat y’all’s asses tomorrow,” Yvie defends herself with a smile that’s giddy and cocky at the same time.

“You mean she’s coming to see _your_ ass getting beat by _me_ ,” Plastique pipes up, sticking her tongue out to Yvie, who gasps in mock offense.

“Plastique, sit your ass down, you’re still a fetus, there’s no way you’re getting that first place above me,” Monét cuts in, causing a loud laugh from all the girls by the table, except Plastique, of course.

It doesn’t go unnoticed —for Crystal, at least— how Brooke bends over on the table to tell her something in a whisper that gets lost in the noise, and Plastique smiles, biting her lower lip.

If Vanessa noticed it, she doesn’t even flinch; instead, she joins the jokes and tells Monét she better kiss that prize goodbye, because she didn’t get endless sunburns throughout the summer to lose against her.

The table soon is a mess, with a hundred conversations going on at the same time and jokes being aimed at each other relentlessly. Crystal likes it. This is the sisterhood she knows and loves.

“I don’t know about y’all, but I have a lady to treat to dinner, and that’s enough reason to step up my game and get to that podium,” Crystal declares, slamming her hand on the table and causing many skeptical eyebrows to quirk her way.

“What kind of crazy bitch did you find to put up with your annoying ass during this summer?” Monique inquires in a playful tone. Jaida looks at her with a calm demeanour, but Crystal barely notices her. She grins at the opportunity of babbling about Gigi.

“Her name’s Gigi. I met her at this place last week, we’ve been going out after practices. And she’s cute. Ain’t she, Vanj?” Crystal says with a smile, and Vanessa rolls her eyes with a tiny smirk.

“It’s all this hoe talks about. I swear her cheesy ass makes me wanna vomit sometimes.”

“Hey! You talk about Kameron all day long and I say nothing.” She folds her arms with a childish pout, and it’s the first time in the night she sees Vanessa panic. Crystal is confused for a moment, until she realizes what she’s done.

Fuck, she wasn’t supposed to talk about Kameron in front of Brooke.

There’s silence for what feels like an eternity, until Brooke clears her throat to speak.

“You’re going out with Kameron?” She asks, her polite tone and piercing stare glued to Vanessa make Crystal’s stomach drop.

Vanessa inhales a sharp breath and finally pulls herself to meet Brooke’s eyes for the first time in a year. She’s flooded with memories of the good times, but the Brooke in her memories isn’t the one sitting across her — this Brooke doesn’t look at her with love in her eyes and a smile painted on her lips. This Brooke looks at her as if she’s trying her best not to pitch a screaming fight.

“Yeah, for about six months now,” Vanessa finally says, and Brooke cocks a sly brow.

“No wonder two months ago my dear cousin asked me if I was going to participate in the competition,” Brooke comments, her tone sharp and angry. Vanessa wants a hole to open up in the ground and swallow her whole. “Would y’all excuse me? I need a cigarette.” She pushes the chair back and gets up to leave, grabbing her pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her purse. Yvie follows her after a while and Plastique stays glued to her chair.

Vanessa rubs her temples, feeling as if she’s in a bubble of white noise, making her ears hurt, and a feeling she thought was a part of her past settles in her chest.

Crystal feels extra guilty. It’s her fault, after all; she should’ve just let Vanessa mock her, or maybe say something about her current girlfriend without mentioning her name. But no. She had fucked everything up, even when things were going smoothly.

There are two things she’s sure of; she should start thinking before speaking, and tomorrow is going to be a hell of a bloodbath.

*

In the middle of the awkwardness last night, Jaida couldn’t get to say she also wants to win to impress a girl.

She’s been talking to Jan sporadically — after that encounter in the bathroom, they exchanged Instagram handles and would reply to each other’s stories from time to time. Sometimes Jaida sends risky replies and Jan —seeming to be the shy type— replies with a plethora of purple emojis and trying her best to let her know they’re on the same page.

She’s so adorable. Jaida wonders if she has enough time to ask her out while they’re still in the city.

Jaida has posted about the competition on her Instagram Stories, and Jan replied wishing her good luck. When she asked her if she was coming, Jan just said it was a possibility, with two winking emojis.

She hopes to see her there, but it’s not as if she’ll lose sleep if she doesn’t come — in the grand scheme of things, Jaida is far more worried about the competition itself.

The beach is crowded, like it always is, but this time around there’s more people with surfboards walking around, taking photos and warming up. She tries to find a familiar face among the crowd, but someone finds _her_ instead.

“Jaida! Hi!” She turns around to see Jan standing there in a purple bikini, her blonde hair tied in a high ponytail, and her face is red, but Jaida can’t tell if it’s from the blush or the sunburn she got a few days ago, trying to get a tan — she knows this because Jan likes to overshare in her Instagram Stories.

“Jan, you came,” she says with a grin. Jan nods enthusiastically, motioning behind her.

“My friend, uh, she dragged us here to see the girl she’s going out with. But I wanted to come anyway, to see you, I mean,” she stammers a little, and it only makes Jaida’s grin widen.

“Tell your friend I’m sorry, ‘cause I’m about to beat her girl.” Jaida winks at her, and Jan giggles, flustered. Jesus, she’s too easy to get her flustered. Jaida always thought California girls were bolder; Katy Perry had lied to her, apparently. Not that she’s complaining, though.

They chat for a bit before Jaida has to go warm up, and Jan promises her she’ll be cheering for her. She follows her with her gaze and frowns a little when she sees she’s heading towards Crystal, who at the same time is talking with a brunette. Jan tugs at the arm of the brunette, and she gives Crystal a quick kiss before following Jan, leaving her lipstick behind on Crystal’s lips.

It takes Jaida about a second to put two and two together; she and Crystal are chasing after two girls of the same group.

How utterly cliché. Is the island that small?

Jaida pulls her hair in a tight bun before starting her warm up, stealing one last glance of Crystal, who’s trying to wipe away the lipstick off her lips and talking to a very gloomy Vanessa.

Almost on autopilot, she searches for Brooke and finds her warming up next to Yvie, with Plastique nowhere to be found.

Jaida just hopes they’ll be able to pull themselves together before the competition starts; she knows she could have a clear advantage if they aren’t focused, but she wants to compete with the best of the best — and beat them, clearly, so that means she’s _the_ best.

Jaida takes one last deep breath once they’re allowed to go into the water, her muscles clenching with the cold water splashing her, but her heart races so fast she thinks it’ll come out of her chest at some point.

Somehow, she’s sure she hears Jan scream her name as she drifts away from the shore.


	6. she spreads her lovin' all over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO HI I'M BACK. sorry for the delay! here's the new chapter, i hope you enjoy 💕 this is probably my favorite chapter! thanks to frey for beta-ing and the jankie candle for screaming at me to finish this

“Y’know, second place isn’t all that bad,” Scarlet comments, taking a spoonful of ice cream. Yvie hums in response, sipping on her watermelon smoothie.

It’s been a few hours since the competition ended, and Yvie managed to get second place, with Jaida winning the competition. They were sitting at the beach, sprawled in Scarlet’s blanket, eating ice cream as they watched the sunset.

“At least I got a trophy,” Yvie says, reaching for the small second place plastic trophy she’d been given and chuckling slightly. It’s not what she wanted, but at least she made it to the top three. It bruises her pride a little, though, since she won last year. But there’s always the next summer.

“ _And_ , as a consolation prize, you get a dinner with me and the finest burritos on the whole island,” Scarlet adds with a wink. Yvie laughs wholeheartedly, it sure sounds like a good plan.

“That sounds even better than the first place prize,” Yvie says earnestly, and Scarlet coos. She’s never been particularly cheesy, but she just can’t help it when she’s around Scarlet. The girl wears her heart on her sleeve and doesn’t hesitate to make cheesy jokes and comments; she’s sickeningly sweet, and Yvie tries her best to reciprocate those feelings.

Yvie looks at Scarlet — _really_ looks at her, taking in her red hair glowing under the dying Sun, her porcelain-like skin, and pouty lips. She doesn’t think she’s seen someone this gorgeous before, and Yvie’s travelled all around the world following her passion.

She notices an ice cream stain in the corner of Scarlet’s mouth, so she brings her thumb to clean it, catching Scarlet’s attention in the process.

“You got something here…” she mumbles absent-mindedly, pulling her thumb away. “There.”

Scarlet musters a thank you, touching where Yvie’s thumb was just moments ago, and suddenly there’s a cheeky smile blooming in her face.

“Y’know, you got something on your face too,” she says, leaning in closer to Yvie’s face, and before Yvie can say anything, Scarlet steals a kiss from her.

It’s quick, but it’s tender, and it makes Yvie melt.

“There,” Scarlet chirps, barely withdrawing her lips.

Yvie hums thoughtfully, knitting her brows in a frown.

“I think now _you_ got something on your face, here.” Yvie closes the distance between them again, and she can feel Scarlet smile against the kiss. This time, it’s slower, much more careful and soft; it makes butterflies fly in Yvie’s stomach, and it reminds her of when she was younger and kissed girls behind the bleachers.

At the back of her brain, Yvie knows it’ll be hard to say goodbye to Scarlet once their time together is over, but she doesn’t want to think much about it, so instead she cups Scarlet’s face and pulls her even closer.

*

Vanessa feels herself spiraling with anxiety.

Kameron couldn’t make it to the competition, but she blew up her phone with encouraging texts and promises of endless kisses and orgasms once they see each other again. A part of Vanessa can’t wait to be back between her arms and pepper her face with kisses, telling her about how much fun she’s had during these weeks and how much she’s missed her.

The other part, however, feels absolutely guilty whenever she remembers Brooke knows about them now, when she thinks of how she’s probably ruined their relationship and regrets ever asking Kameron out.

But, as Crystal said, she’s no one’s property, and she’s free to date whoever she wants, even if it just happens to be her ex’s cousin. They’re free women.

They’re getting together to celebrate Jaida later tonight at April’s hotel room. She knows Brooke will be there, so she takes a vow and decides she’ll talk to her about this and set things straight. They’re grown adults; they should know how to communicate.

Though her bravery goes out the window the moment Crystal declares she’s not coming.

“Gigi asked me out before the competition, and I said yes, because I clearly didn’t know Jaida would win. I’m sorry, Vanj, I can’t cancel it,” she says, sounding truly apologetic as she puts on her lipstick. “Listen, it’s just a little reunion, like that night at the beach. Just try to keep your cool, don’t drink much. and ignore Brooke to the best of your abilities. I believe in you, girl, as long as they don’t play ‘Tusa’ you’ll be fine.” Crystal dismisses it with a wave of her hand, putting down the lipstick.

Vanessa groans, rubbing her eyelids as she flops into the couch in Crystal’s room.

“Glass, I can’t do that and you know it. I have to talk with Brooke Lynn and put an end to this petty shit. Kameron wants me to meet her side of the family and I ain’t about to stand awkward family reunions with Brooke,” Vanessa rants, and Crystal turns her attention to her, cocking one skeptical brow.

“D’you think you’ll be able to do that without ending up screaming at each other?” Crystal inquires, staring intently at Vanessa. She knows her friend like the back of her hand, and it’s a known fact that a petty Vanessa mixed with alcohol can’t end up well. Least of all if her ex is in the same room.

Vanessa takes a deep breath and nods, “I think it’s time I woman up and talk to her like an adult, ‘cause this beef seems like something straight outta some shit rom-com.”

“You love rom-coms, though,” Crystal points out, making Vanessa roll her eyes.

“Well, yeah, but this ain’t ‘The Notebook’. I’m not gonna abandon Kameron for Brooke so we can kiss in the rain,” she replies matter-of-factly, and though Crystal wants to make a witty comment, she desists from it. She sounds dead serious.

She smiles softly, going towards the couch and sitting beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m proud of you, Vanj,” she says earnestly, and Vanessa smiles at her.

“Thanks, Glass. Now, you better get your shit together for that date, ‘cause between the two of us, you’re the one that’s living her Notebook fantasy,” Vanessa jokes, making Crystal laugh loudly as a blush creeps on her cheeks.

*

Gigi is waiting for her outside of Sal’s, wearing a baby blue dress ending above the knee with cloud prints on it and white flats, her auburn hair pulled into a ponytail; a smile breaks onto Crystal’s face, not only because she looks as pretty as always, but also because it seems like Gigi remembered her comment about finding her cute when she’s smaller than her.

They lock eyes when Crystal is near enough and Gigi smiles sweetly at her, standing on her tiptoes to give her a quick kiss.

“How long have you been waiting for me?” Crystal asks, lacing her hand with Gigi’s and guiding her inside.

“Not long; my friend Jan has a date too, I just dropped her off at her girl’s hotel,” Gigi comments innocently, and Crystal hums to let her know she’s listening as she fetches for a table.

They finally find one, near the bar that’s still closed, and settle themselves. Soon a waiter comes by, but because Crystal is already familiar with the entire menu, she places her order on the spot, while Gigi studies the card for a moment.

“You really weren’t lying when you said you know this place by heart,” Gigi giggles, looking back and forth between the menu and Crystal.

Crystal smiles giddily, wondering if she should babble about how this place has endless memories from her childhood and teenage years, holding a special place in her heart, with its menu and staff and Sal himself. She usually doesn’t give too much of herself away to girls she’s never going to see again, but Gigi feels special for some reason. As if she isn’t just a simple summer fling.

So she tells her about the first time she came there without getting into the details, when she was just eight and her gay awakening came in the form of a nice woman that caught her staring at her surfboard and offered to teach her.

Gigi laughs, quipping with her own stories about how she got into fashion — the old Barbie movies seemed to take a great part of the blame, along with making her have a short lived ballet phase.

They share stories, jokes, and dreams for their future, and it’s a whole lot more of what Crystal would give away to someone that’s going to be a stranger in a few weeks, a vague memory as years go by and her face fades from her mind. But the fact Gigi doesn’t think twice before telling her her personal things pushes Crystal to be a bit more open too.

Perhaps this is why she’s becoming a tad too attached to Gigi; none of the girls she’d spent previous summers with cared for her, let alone opened up to her. They would just shoot her messages detailing at which bar or club they would be, or what was their room number.

None of them came to see her at a competition, or texted her weird memes they’d found, sent her videos of weird shit their roommates did during the day, stayed up until the wee hours of the morning texting her or stayed longer after sex.

Gigi is special, and maybe Crystal feels so strongly about her because she hasn’t been on a proper date in a long time, or met someone with whom she just _clicked_ , but it goes without a say that it’ll hurt when they have to part ways.

Though right now, she tries to push that to the back of her brain and act as if they both are there — and the summer is endless and they have a whole life ahead of them.

*

“How long do you think it’ll take until some shit goes down between Vanessa and Brooke?” Monique asks her girlfriend nonchalantly, as she nudges on her drink. Monét laughs, trying to keep it down not to draw attention to them.

There’s definitely some tension in the room, especially between Brooke and Vanessa, that glance at each other when they think no one’s looking. They’re in opposite corners of the room, with Brooke talking with Plastique, who has a smile plastered on her face at all times despite the situation, and Vanessa staying mostly by April’s side, though she drifts to talk with Jaida and the girl she brought —Jan, apparently— from time to time.

Yvie is floating around, striking a conversation with everyone and trying not to interrupt whatever Brooke and Plastique have going on.

Monét and Monique just stay out of the drama, watching everything go down as they snicker and sip on their drinks.

“Three more vodka sodas; give or take a strawberry daiquiri, and you’ll have Vanessa asking for the aux cord to play ‘Tusa’,” Monét replies after quickly scanning the room. Monique laughs in that dorky way that makes Monét’s heart flutter, and she smiles.

“I don’t know, ‘Nét, Crystal’s not here. You know Vanessa doesn’t like strawberry daiquiris unless they’re prepared by her,” Monique adds, thoughtfully. Monét hums in agreement, taking a long sip from her drink.

“Well, whatever happens, happens,” Monét declares with a shrug as Monique snuggles to her side, holding her drink in one hand and her phone in the other.

Before she can say anything, Monique snaps a picture of her as she sips her drink and smiles cheekily at her, planting a kiss on her cheek when she protests.

“Stop complaining, you look cute!” She insists, but Monét rolls her eyes playfully. To Monique, she would look cute freshly woken up, with her hair a complete mess and her face scrunched up in a frown as she takes in the light of the room. Monét finds it adorable and delusional at the same time.

“Of course you say that, you’re my girlfriend. You’re contractually obligated to find me cute,” she jokes, flipping her short hair over her shoulder and earning a playful slap in the arm from Monique.

“Oh, shut up, miss ‘I’ve been pining for you for the last two years and I’ve decided to tell you over fucking Zoom’,” Monique quips back with a shit-eating grin. Monét immediately gets flustered, looking away in embarrassment. It had been almost a year since then, and Monique still likes to rub that in her face whenever she gets the chance.

At that moment, Monét thought it was a good idea — she was spending the summer with her family in Saint Lucia, and Monique was constantly babbling about this girl she’d met during the competition, who ultimately ended up ghosting her. Monét’d been planning to confess her feelings to her, but ultimately they were crashed the moment Monique went on a rant on how girls always left her hanging and she felt like utter shit.

It had been an awkward couple of seconds until Monique admitted she always found her attractive and to hit her up once she was back in New York City.

Several dates later, and there they were, being the bane of their friends existence whenever they got cheesy.

Monique leaves a soft kiss on Monét’s lips as she goes back to snuggling against her, taking another sip from her drink.

They are too wrapped up in their bubble to notice Vanessa is now talking with Brooke, while Plastique absentmindedly sipps on her drink and Jaida and her date are trying to distract her. April is just sitting in the other side of the room, a drink in her hand, as she chats with Yvie, and they steal not-so-subtle glances at the pair.

Monique drags Monét towards Jaida and Plastique, because she’ll be damned if she misses out the drama.

“What’d we miss? We looked away just for a moment!” Monique dramatizes, trying to be subtle. Jaida rolls her eyes playfully.

“They’re trying to be goddamn adults, that’s what they’re doing,” she replies, making Jan giggle.

“At least they’re trying. My friends, Jackie and Nicky, think we don’t know there’s something going on between them, or was going on, at least. They get all weird when we mention it,” Jan babbles, slurring ever so slightly. “I wonder what’re they doing. They stayed at the house with Brita, but Brita apparently has a family dinner or something. I hope they get their shit together,” she continues, and Jaida subtly takes her drink away.

“We’ll keep our fingers crossed for them too,” Monét offers, stealing a glance at Brooke and Vanessa.

*

Jackie finds it horribly convenient that she and Nicky are all alone at the house after all the jokes they had to endure during these weeks.

Of course Gigi and Jan have dates tonight, and of-fucking-course Brita is also out. That leaves just the two of them. All alone in the house, and alone together for the first time in a long while.

Jackie tries not to let the memories of their last time being just the two of them get to her, because they’re on good terms now, right? Things get awkward sometimes, when they’re at the club or some bar or at whatever social gathering that includes alcohol, and Nicky goes after girls with brown wavy hair and glasses that look just an _itty bitty bit_ like Jackie, after she’s had more than a few drinks.

Or when they’re studying together and Jackie hums along the lines of Aya Nakamura’s songs, Nicky’s favorite French singer, and the irony isn’t lost on Jackie how Nicky used to dedicate her the same songs she hums under her breath.

Or when they have sleepovers and Nicky goes to sleep on the complete opposite side of the room, and the memories flood Jackie’s mind. Of lazy mornings, sleepy kisses, and having breakfast in bed despite Jackie’s protests. “ _You’re going to make a mess and I’m gonna be the one that’ll have to clean up_ ,” she used to say, and Nicky would just shut her up with a kiss and a promise of not doing it again, only to repeat the process the next time she stayed the night.

Sometimes the memories got a little too overwhelming, and in consequence she pushes Nicky away, avoids her in real life and social media, until her old feelings die out again and she can live in peace.

But now that she’s drowning in feelings she thought were buried and memories that make her heart skip several beats, there’s no way of escaping Nicky without making her suspicious.

“How do you fancy pizza from two nights ago for dinner?” Nicky calls out from the kitchen as Jackie sits uneasy in the living room couch, trying to focus on whatever garbage reality show is on. She flicks a few channels again before taking a deep breath and answering.

“Isn’t it pineapple pizza? No, thank you, I prefer cooking,” Jackie tries to sound witty as she replies, vaguely looking at Nicky, who’s perched at the kitchen’s door frame, looking at her intently, before she turns her attention back to the TV.

“That’s a good idea, though. I think there are enough spices to do some shawarma, and there’s some chicken left from when we tried to do chicken tacos,” Nicky trails off, going back into the kitchen. Jackie finally pulls herself off the couch to follow her, worried about Brita’s kitchen.

“Didn’t you burn an egg the other day?” She asks, slightly concerned as she watches Nicky stand on her tiptoes to reach the top shelve.

“I mean, yes, but that was Gigi’s fault! She distracted me,” she complains with a whine. Jackie chuckles softly, coming closer to her.

“Oh, really? How so?” She inquires, trying to sound amused.

“Um, well, she was making some dirty jokes, like she always is,” Nicky explains, her voice coming off as more airy and trembling than it usually is.

Jackie tenses, biting the inside of her cheek. She understands without the need of asking more questions.

“Ah,” she musters, shifting her weight from one foot from another. Nicky lets an excited squeal once she fetches all the spices from the shelve. “Do you want to, uh, do you want help maybe? Just to make sure you don’t burn down the house,” Jackie offers, stumbling with the words a little.

Nicky looks at her over her shoulder. “If you want to.” She shrugs, turning around, perching herself on the counter.

Jackie licks her lips, trying to keep her cool. “Alright.”

She tries their best to stay focused at the task at hand, taking over for the most part and instructing Nicky how much spice to sprinkle or how to cut the chicken, and it’s generally chill; there’s not as much tension as Jackie would’ve expected, but her breath still hitches in her throat when their hands occasionally brush or when either Nicky or her have to perch themselves against the counter so the other can cross the narrow space in the kitchen to get something.

Their proximity makes Jackie clench her jaw, the tips of her fingers itching to reach for Nicky’s face and capture her lips in a long overdue kiss and—

She shouldn’t be thinking about this.

She shouldn’t be thinking of Nicky like that.

Before she notices, they’re ready to fry the spiced chicken, and Jackie is rummaging through the bottom shelves to find a frying pan they can use.

“Nicks, do you remember where Brita said—” She leaves her sentence unfinished, as she turns around just when Nicky was trying to make her way to the end of the counter, so now they’re pressed against each other, face to face.

Nicky looks absolutely flustered, cheeks growing pink with each second that passes. She clears her throat before speaking, not moving an inch.

“What Brita said about what?” She inquires in the same breathy tone as before, and Jackie’s stomach twitches.

“About the frying pans. I’m trying to find one, but, uh, there’s- there’s nothing there,” Jackie manages to stammer out. The scent of Nicky’s perfume is intoxicating, it fills her nostrils and it makes her knees go weak. But she stays firmly put where she is.

Nicky cocks one of her perfectly painted eyebrows, a small smirk appearing on her face as she reaches for something behind Jackie in the counter, their faces being now closer than ever.

“It was right behind you, chérie; I told you I left it there, but you didn’t listen to me, it seems,” Nicky nonchalantly says, shamelessly staring at Jackie’s lips. Her breath is hot against her skin, and Jackie finds herself lost in Nicky’s piercing gaze.

Jackie knows too damn well that the slightest move would cause their lips to brush, and then it’d be game over for her. 

She wants to move away, but she’s glued to her position for some unholy reason, just staring at Nicky wordlessly as her breath becomes ragged.

Then, Nicky aims to close the distance between their mouths.

And Jackie turns her face away, with Nicky’s kiss landing on her cheek instead.

There’s an awkward silence as Nicky steps back, seeming absolutely mortified.

“I said, ‘Don’t kiss me until you get your shit together.’ and I stand by that. Don’t make things harder than they already are, Nicky,” Jackie speaks calmly, almost somber. Her skin burns in the spot where Nicky’s lips had been just moments ago, and the tears already start prickling in her eyes.

She can’t believe Nicky could be this cruel.

“Merde, Jackie, I didn’t mean- I wasn’t trying-” Nicky struggles to get a coherent sentence out, and Jackie is already pulling away from her, their closeness too much to bear. “Jackie, _listen_ ,” she pleads, and Jackie forces herself to meet Nicky’s gaze.

She seems truly sorry.

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean- well, I _did_ mean to kiss you. I’ve missed you in every single fucking aspect, but I missed your lips the most. God, how couldn’t I?” Nicky rambles, and Jackie just listens in silence, with her heart pounding against her ribcage so hard she’s sure Nicky can hear it. “And- and I know the reason we broke up is because you couldn’t tolerate my indecisiveness anymore, and I’m sorry. I really am. But do you know why I tried to kiss you?”

Jackie squints, shaking her head no. She can taste the words in her tongue, wants so badly to hear Nicky say them.

Nicky takes a few steps, still standing at a respectable distance, but all Jackie wants to do is push her closer.

“Because I know now, Jackie,” she declares, leaning in closer. Jackie inhales sharply. “It’s you. It’s _always_ been you. All it took for me to realize was you ditching me, and I understand if you don’t-” Nicky leaves her sentence unfinished thanks to Jackie cupping her face and clashing their lips together.

It feels as if the last time they kissed was years ago, and Jackie thought for the longest time she had forgotten the taste of Nicky’s lips; but they’re still soft, with a hint of strawberry thanks to the chapstick Nicky often uses.

The kiss is anything but soft, and it resembles how much they had missed each other during all this time. Nicky places her hands on Jackie’s waist and pins her against the wall, and Jackie’s hands soon find their way into Nicky’s hair, softly caressing it.

God, she’d missed this terribly.

Nicky starts to pepper kisses all over Jackie’s face, making her giggle.

“Habibi, this is nice and all, but I think we’re forgetting dinner,” Jackie chuckles, smiling bashfully. Nicky kisses her more tenderly, taking her time, and Jackie is gone.

“I think I wanna eat something else now,” Nicky says nonchalantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter fellas!! tumblr is @chachkisalpaca as always 💗


	7. summertime, and the livin's easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it lads. we've done it.
> 
> thank you so much to the people that stuck around and left comments, kudos and messages on my tumblr. i love you all so much. huge thanks to frey, for putting up with this madness even during her exams season - and the jankie candle clan for being such an amazing support system.

_Summer of 2021, a year later._

Vanessa launches herself into Crystal’s arms when she sees her step foot onto the beach.

“You came!” She screeches so loud it hurts her ears. But she doesn’t complain, she’s missed Vanessa a whole lot. Crystal just hugs her tighter, lifting her up.

“Of course I came! I missed you, bitch,” she exclaims, settling her on the ground again. Vanessa takes her hand and guides her where she and Kameron are settled. “I gotta say though, if you made me stop on my way back home after losing to Shea Couleé in Hawaii, just to see you lose tomorrow, I’m done being friends with you,” Crystal deadpans, and Vanessa briefly lets go of her hand to playfully smack her.

Hawaii hadn’t been half as bad this year compared to the last one, considering she ended up in the fifth place, so the second place was an upgrade, and she did spend a great time while she was there — though Vanessa didn’t join her, preferring instead to stay in California in order to practice for an upcoming competition she was sure she would excel in thanks to most surfers being in Hawaii, but she still had April and Jaida to hang out with.

Things with Jaida were cooler now; they had managed to become actual friends and whatever awkwardness from the past was resolved. She still was her usual self, though this time around she seemed goofier and way more laid back. Crystal wonders if it has to do with that contact in her phone —“Babe” with three purple hearts— and the fact she’s also making a stop in California before returning to Milwaukee.

“Shush, you know I’ll win,” Vanessa says with a cocky grin, and her confidence makes her think that she’ll indeed destroy the competition.

They make small talk as they navigate their way back to Vanessa and Kameron’s blanket; Crystal asks how life is going since they moved in together on their one year anniversary, and Vanessa looks oh so radiant as she tells her how every morning and night is better than the last one, and that family reunions with Brooke aren’t as awkward as they could be thanks to them getting their shit together and talking things out.

Crystal asks if Plastique and Brooke are still a thing, and Vanessa shrugs, says she hasn’t talked with Brooke since the summer’s started, but last thing she knew was that they were visiting Plastique’s family in Vietnam over the summer and that the tickets were already paid for. Or that’s what Yvie told her, anyway, when she made a quick stop in California before heading to Hawaii to see her girlfriend.

Kameron is as strong as ever and almost crushes Crystal in a hug that leaves her breathless.

“Always a pleasure to see you, Kam,” she says, and Kameron laughs wholeheartedly upon seeing her expression.

“How are you, Crys? Where’s your surfboard? I thought I could get some cool photos of you and ‘Ness,” Kameron inquires, reaching for her professional camera carefully tucked in her backpack.

“Ah, I left it at my hotel room. I was having lunch when Vanj told me y’all were here already, and the restaurant was a few streets down, so.” She shrugs, taking the hair tie on her wristband to try and collect her short hair in a low ponytail.

“Aw, d’you have money to rent one? I wanted to beat you like Shea Couleé beat you in Hawaii, so I can have a taste of how it’ll feel to win tomorrow,” Vanessa teases her, placing her head on Kameron’s shoulder. Crystal rolls her eyes, both due to Vanessa’s cockiness and how disgustingly cute they are.

“You talk a big game, but I’m sure that I can beat you harder than Shea Coulee beat me!” Crystal retorts, earning a loud laugh from Kameron and Vanessa. She laughs too, and proceeds to tell Vanessa she has enough to rent a surfboard for maybe an hour. Vanessa claps excitedly, grabbing her hand and guiding her to the rental shack, before giving Kameron a quick kiss, promising to be back in a second.

Crystal rolls her eyes again. She can’t stand affection right now, not when she told her latest girl she was leaving yesterday and she stood her up at the airport, not even bothering to send her a goodbye text.

It’s disappointing, because she thought maybe this girl was like Gigi and she cared the tiniest bit about her.

But Gigi is unique. There probably won’t be anyone like her ever again, and Crystal is at peace with that for some odd reason.

They tried to stay in contact once they left Honolulu, but life is hectic, and it was becoming quite hard to juggle college, her job, and texting a girl half a country away on the regular. The last time they talked was on Crystal’s birthday, a simple “ _Happy birthday, babe_!” with a heart and a globe emoji attached to it. Crystal liked the message and replied with a polite ‘thank you’, and that was it.

She tries to remember where in California Gigi said she was from. Maybe, if there’s the tiniest bit of coincidence that she lives near, they can have a movie-like reunion and revive those three weeks together, but she doesn’t get her hopes up.

*

Maybe Gigi doesn’t hate beaches that much after all.

Well, she can’t say that right now, not when she’s the only one without a girlfriend to spend summer with — Brita is going out with a girl from her class, after she spent all year long complaining about her and her shit attitude, Jan has a long distance girlfriend whom she talks with every day and swears is coming to see her before summer ends, and Jackie and Nicky are so sweet together it’s disgusting.

She feels left out, somehow. Probably because all they talk about in recent times is their partners and love lives, and Gigi hasn’t had a proper date since April, when they set her up with a senior called Pearl and their date went awful. She’s pretty sure Pearl is now dating someone else, though.

“Geeg, do you wanna come with me to get a smoothie?” Brita asks, sounding only a little bit impatient. Gigi cocks a sly brow when she notices it’s the second time in the hour she’s going for a smoothie.

“Brita, for the last time, Aiden is working and you shouldn’t be spending all your money on smoothies. The chemical bathrooms are a mess,” Jackie scolds her, briefly stopping running her fingers through Nicky’s hair, who’s lying across Jackie’s lap.

Brita folds her arms, saying, that _‘for the last time, it has nothing to do with the fact Aiden works there’_ , when suddenly Jan shoots up and runs off, leaving all the girls surprised.

They call for her and try to follow her as well as they can, when they spot her running into a woman’s arms, and the woman lifts her from the ground, spinning her around. They kiss while Jan is in the air, and Gigi can’t help but to roll her eyes.

Great, another pair of lovebirds she has to put up with.

Jan meets them back at their spot after kissing her girlfriend for what felt like a lifetime and introduces her as Jaida. Gigi vaguely remembers her from somewhere else.

“We met last year in Hawaii, and went out while Jay was there! We’ve been texting a lot since then, and remember that I went to Milwaukee for winter break?” Jan explains excitedly, snuggling closer to Jaida with each word she speaks. Gigi tries not to roll her eyes when Jan tells them, for maybe the hundredth time, how Jaida asked her to be her girlfriend when she visited her over winter break. Jan kisses Jaida’s cheek once she’s done talking, and Jaida just smiles brightly.

“I couldn’t pass the opportunity! You had me hooked since the moment I met you, and since this was my senior year, y’know, I thought we could make it work once I graduated,” Jaida says, bringing Jan closer by her waist and kissing her forehead.

“What were you studying?” Nicky inquires.

“I’m a communications major, and as of now I’m trying to get a job around here, so I can _finally_ move out of my little town. And, ‘sides Jan, the beach here is always a plus. It’s a surfer’s dream,” Jaida explains, chuckling softly, and soon she’s bombarded with questions about her sport.

The fact she’s a surfer makes Gigi think of Crystal. She could’ve also had a surfer girlfriend if she tried hard enough to make it work, but she guessed that just wasn’t meant to be like Jaida and Jan.

She thinks of asking Jaida about Crystal, but decides against it. She still has Crystal’s Instagram and follows her page religiously. All she has to do is send her a text, but she doesn’t have the courage to do so after so much time having passed.

“Hey, girls? I’m gonna get ice cream, I’ll be back in a moment,” Gigi announces, grabbing her phone and shoving a couple of dollars into her phone case. She’s running away from the lovey-dovey couples more than anything, though she could also use some ice cream to help her cope.

She walks aimlessly around the beach, trying to remember where she saw the ice cream stand, avoiding children that are running around with water guns in their hands and screeching like banshees. Some beach balls are thrown her way, and she kicks them back with ease, dismissing the people that scream ‘I’m sorry’ towards her.

Gigi has learned to appreciate the unique chaos of the beach, even if she still gets annoyed at little things like the long queues to buy ice cream, and the disgusting chemical bathrooms. In the end, these are little details in the grand scheme of things.

Crystal taught her that.

It’s stupid how often she thinks about Crystal. When she starts forgetting the sound of her voice, she replays the audio messages she sent her. And sometimes, if she concentrates hard enough, she can feel the ghost of a kiss burning on her neck.

Perhaps she should download Tinder again and get a grip.

Gigi finally finds the ice cream stand she was looking for and buys the biggest cone there is, with scoops of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. She likes to keep it classy.

She’s slowly making her way back as she licks the Ice cream, wondering if her friends would believe her if she said she has a headache and is going home. Gigi really has no will whatsoever to sit through an entire evening of her friends rubbing their relationships in her face, while she’s painfully—

“Gigi?”

Gigi freezes mid-movement, looking for that voice she’s heard one too many times through audio messages. She finds the owner of said voice standing a few feet away, with her hair, that was once long and ebony, cut above her shoulders, dyed in a deep green that looks almost black, wearing a stupid yellow Hawaiian shirt over a red bikini, holding a surfboard under her arm.

She blinks repeatedly before realizing it’s not her mind playing a trick on her. It really is Crystal who’s approaching her.

“Crystal,” she manages to say, staring at her. Crystal’s smile is still the same, and her plump lips are as kissable as ever. She has a new piercing in her belly button; Gigi thinks it suits her. “It’s— I didn’t— You’re in California,” Gigi blurts out, and Crystal smirks.

“I am, yeah. I arrived this morning,” she says, a blush creeping onto her cheeks, but Gigi decides to think it’s a sunburn. “I was gonna, uh, I was gonna practice with Vanessa for a bit. She’s got a competition tomorrow, here,” Crystal comments awkwardly, making Gigi wonder where has the cheeky Crystal she knew gone.

“Are you participating too?” She asks, licking her melting ice cream.

Crystal shakes her head no, much to Gigi’s surprise.

“Oh, no, I’m sitting this one out. I didn’t have the time to sign up for this one; I was in Honolulu for another competition, like every year. I came in second. I did get a consolation prize and some money, though,” Crystal explains, going from excited to disappointed, and excited again in the span of a few seconds. Gigi giggles; she’s missed Crystal’s enthusiasm.

“How long are you staying?” Gigi asks, with a tinge of hopefulness in her tone. Crystal smiles softly, tapping on the surfboard.

“Like, three days,” she replies, biting her lower lip. Gigi’s heart sinks for a moment, but she continues. “You think that’s enough time to catch up before I’m back to Missouri?” Crystal asks, sounding way too sheepish.

A smile spreads on Gigi’s face, immediately thinking of all the things they can do together while she’s in the city, and a squeal of happiness escapes her mouth before she realizes.

“Oh my God, yes! I mean, it’s not as much time as I would want, but we could make it work,” Gigi assures her, and Crystal nods, giving her a toothy smile.

“We can make it work,” she repeats. Gigi nods dumbly, licking her ice cream again when she feels her hand get sticky with the melted cream. Crystal stifles a laugh. “I have to catch up with Vanjie, but, uh, do you wanna go for a swim together when I’m done?” Crystal asks, as if she didn’t know Gigi would say yes.

Gigi nods, and Crystal is already turning around to go to her friend, when Gigi tugs on her arm. She turns around, careful as not to smack any kid with her surfboard, and before she can say anything, Gigi steals a kiss from her.

“I’ve missed you,” she breathes out against her lips, and she can feel Crystal smiling before kissing her back.

“Summer’s way funnier with you,” she mumbles in response, forgetting about Vanessa, who’s waiting for her. The only thing she can think of right now is Gigi and how much she’s missed her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> will this be continued? turned into a series? who knows! but thanks for reading, guys. hope to see you on my next project! tumblr for crying with me is @chachkisalpaca

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr as @chachkisalpaca!


End file.
